


Roisa Christmas Advent

by WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: And I do not throw that around lightly, And snow, Christmas, F/F, Happiness all around, Mariah Carey - Freeform, Post-Canon, Roisa Christmas Advent, So much fluff this fic is basically a goose feather pillow, Wintery themes, expect F L U F F, happiness, so when I say fluff, that pretty much sums it up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 24,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8719036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks/pseuds/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks
Summary: To count down the days until Christmas arrives, our favorite lesbians get up to a lot of Christmassy/Wintery activities. All of them cute, happy and featuring our gays as the leading ladies they deserve to be. Happy Holidays to all of you!





	1. New Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to my Roisa Christmas extravaganza! 
> 
> 24 days until Christmas,  
> 24 1000 word fics  
> Let's do this!

Luisa smiled sleepily, stretching her arms out above her head as her alarm played a familiar song. There wasn’t really any reason for her to set an alarm, she had no obligations after all. No job to go to, no appointments to keep but Luisa preferred a regular routine. So during weekdays she set her alarm for 8 AM.

‘Shut it off please,’ Rose grumbled next to her, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s waist and softly kissing the back of her neck.

‘No, I like this song,’ Luisa smiled. ‘And we have to get up,’ she said, moving out of Rose’s embrace.

‘You like _All I Want for Christmas_?’ Rose said, her eyebrows furrowed together as she flopped back on top of the bed. ‘I don’t know if I like all these new things I am learning about you,’ Rose said, but her smile betrayed she didn’t really feel that way.

‘It’s iconic,’ Luisa smiled.

‘It is also still November, too early for Christmas,’ Rose murmured as she pulled the duvet up to her chin.

‘It is never too early for Christmas,’ Luisa smiled, pointedly leaving the radio on as she walked into the shower to get started with her day. Even before the bathroom door fell closed behind her Rose started yelling.

‘Please shut off Mariah Carey!’

‘Just come shower with me!’ Luisa yelled back, hearing some muffled grumbling from the other side of the door before Rose walked in, gloriously naked.

‘I didn’t even know you liked Christmas,’ Rose said, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s waist from behind and resting her head on her shoulder. ‘You never really celebrated before.’

‘I never particularly enjoyed Christmas, no. But I thought that now there are no frivolous Christmas parties we need to attend, we can start a new tradition together.’

Rose smiled, kissing the side of Luisa’s neck. It wasn’t a kiss meant to arouse, just a kiss that belied how comfortable they had gotten around each other. Things had definitely changed for the better after those first months on the submarine. Neither of them was nervous around the other anymore, and Luisa hadn’t jumped once since.

‘I do want to form new traditions with you,’ Rose smiled, spinning Luisa around so they were face to face. ‘But do they have to start this early?’

‘Yes,’ Luisa smiled, pushing herself up on her toes. ‘Because there are lots of things still to do,’ she whispered against Rose’s lips.

‘Like what?’ Rose whispered back, their lips less than a hair’s breadth apart.

‘So many more Christmas songs to download for one,’ Luisa said, quickly pecking Rose on the lips before getting into the shower.

‘Does that _have_ to be part of it?’ Rose sighed, joining Luisa underneath the warm spray.

‘Yes, definitely. We’re doing Christmas right. Meaning carols, and trees, and presents, and mistletoe and just a lot of food.’

‘Finding a fir on a tropical island might be a little difficult.’

‘We can always decorate a palm tree,’ Luisa grinned.

‘That sounds festive,’ Rose grinned.

‘So you’re in then? We are making new Christmas traditions together?’

‘Oh, I’m in,’ Rose smiled, backing Luisa up against the shower wall, pressing their bodies together. ‘Just one thing.’

‘And what’s that?’ Luisa asked, her voice already a breathless whisper just from the hungry look in Rose’s eyes.

‘No more Mariah Carey until Christmas Eve.’

‘I can’t make any promises,’ Luisa smiled. ‘But I will try to keep it to a minimum.’

Luisa’s “minimum” turned out to be once every day when they woke up in the morning. Rose pretended to be annoyed by it, but Luisa caught her humming the song under her breath throughout the day.

Having grown up in Miami, Luisa was used to a tropical Christmas, so the lack of snow and drop in temperature didn’t bother her. Just walking through the surf and holding Rose’s hand while belting out Christmas carols was enough to get her into the Christmas spirit. She might not be a very good singer, but Rose, who had a much better voice, refused to sing with her, so she had to sing loud enough for the both of them.

* * *

‘Luisa!’ Rose yelled from their living room.

‘Yes?’ Luisa asked, popping her head around the corner of their bedroom.

‘I have a surprise for you,’ Rose smiled, holding out her hand, waiting for Luisa to take it.

‘Really? What is it?’

‘It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?’ Rose teased, squeezing Luisa’s hand affectionately.

‘You’re just getting back at me for blasting Mariah Carey every morning.’

‘Just a little good-natured revenge. Because right now, all _I_ want for Christmas is for that song to get out of my head.’

Luisa laughed. ‘Maybe I will change my alarm tone to Jingle Bells _if_ you tell me what the surprise is.’

Rose tilted her head from side to side, weighing her options. ‘You will see soon enough.’

‘Then you might as well tell me,’ Luisa whined, flashing Rose her best puppy eyes.

‘You are so impatient,’ Rose laughed, pulling Luisa along to the pier where a hydroplane was unloading their monthly supplies.

‘Is the surprise me helping you carry things back to the house? Because if it is, I am not impressed,’ Luisa said, crossing her arms.

‘It’s not. This is,’ Rose said as the dark green Christmas tree was hauled out of the plane.

‘You got me a tree?’ Luisa asked, her eyes wide in amazement.

‘Well, I thought we should start our new tradition the right way with a proper tree.’

‘I love you,’ Luisa smiled, hugging Rose tightly.

‘I love you, too,’ Rose smiled. ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Luisa whispered back. ‘You know what this calls for?’

‘Don’t say it…’ Rose sighed.

‘This calls for some Mariah Carey!’ Luisa smiled, turning the volume all the way up as she played the most iconic Christmas song of all time, this was promising to be good start of their life-long Christmas tradition.


	2. On the First Day of Christmas...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day two, time to decorate the Christmas tree!

Luisa hummed along with the music coming from the speaker behind her, rummaging through the cardboard boxes in front of her, admiring the red and white Christmas decorations packed inside it. Rose really did have good taste.

Just as she held up a delicate glass bauble to admire, Rose walked in, carrying another large box.

‘I know I said you didn’t need to carry any boxes, but it would nice if you helped a little,’ Rose said, panting lightly.

Their house was entirely climate controlled, but outside it was still tropically hot. And carrying heavy boxes through the humid heat was not something Luisa wanted to do.

‘You said I didn’t have to. And besides, you are doing such a good job all by yourself,’ Luisa grinned, continuing to admire the many decorations Rose had shipped in just for their first Christmas together.

‘Fine,’ Rose sighed. ‘Can you at least wait with decorating the tree until I am back?’

‘You want to decorate the tree with me?’ Luisa smiled, looping her arms behind Rose’s neck.

‘Of course,’ Rose smiled, her thumbs rubbing circles over Luisa’s hipbones. ‘You said you wanted to start a new Christmas tradition. Well, I would like to start it _together_ with you.’

‘As soon as you bring in the last box. We can get started,’ Luisa grinned, swatting Rose on the ass lightly and spinning her around towards the door.

‘You are really not going to help?’ Rose pouted, leaning against the door.

‘Not a chance,’ Luisa laughed. ‘Now go!’

‘I don’t like you very much right now,’ Rose sighed, disappearing through the door.

‘I love you too!’ Luisa yelled after her.

Maybe she was being a little mean to Rose, but she really did not enjoy carrying heavy things in a 90-degree heat. But to make it up to her girlfriend, she went into the kitchen to make the two of them some cool drinks.

‘Okay, last box,’ Rose huffed as she came through the door, collapsing on the couch immediately after.

‘I’m proud of you,’ Luisa smiled, handing Rose the cold glass and sitting down next to her on the couch.

‘Mhh,’ Rose said, taking a sip. ‘Thank you.’

‘Thank _you_ ,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose’s exposed shoulder, ‘for carrying everything inside. And ordering everything. And making our first Christmas together truly special.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Rose smiled, tilting Luisa’s head and leaning in for a kiss. Rose tasted of peppermint and it just reminded Luisa of the fact that it was Christmas and she was with Rose and that it was going to be their first Christmas together as a couple.

‘So do you want to decorate now?’ Luisa said, barely containing herself. She hadn’t been this excited for Christmas since she was a child. But the prospect of celebrating it together with the woman she loved, her soulmate, made her eager to get started.

‘Yes, bring on the Mariah,’ Rose smiled.

‘Already ahead of you,’ Luisa smiled. The opening notes to the world’s most iconic Christmas song sounding through the speakers with just the press of a button.

‘So what do you want to start with?’ Rose asked, crossing her arms, standing in front of the still bare evergreen.

‘Lights,’ Luisa smiled. ‘You always start with the lights.’

‘Lights it is,’ Rose said, picking up a box of brand new Christmas lights.

‘Be careful not to tangle them,’ Luisa smiled as Rose started draping them over branches.

‘I won’t, that’s something we will get to do next year.’

‘Next year,’ Luisa smiled, encircling Rose’s waist from behind. It was so strange and wonderful to think about the future they had together now, all the endless possibilities it held.

‘I would love to untangle Christmas light with you next year,’ Rose smiled warmly. ‘But let’s survive this year first.’

‘Yes, let’s,’ Luisa smiled, letting go of Rose to pick up her own box of lights.

‘So are we mixing white and colored lights?’

‘Yes, it will be fun and look cheery,’ Luisa shrugged. ‘Or does that offended your fine interior decorating sensibilities?’

‘What? No,’ Rose said, making a point of not looking at her.

‘You are a terrible liar,’ Luisa laughed. ‘And fine, we can use the colored lights outside on the porch.’

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled.

‘Just a warning, there will be candy in this tree.’

‘And I have resigned myself to that fact, hence the red and white ornaments,’ Rose smiled, meeting Luisa’s gaze. ‘They will match with the candy canes.’

‘That’s why I love you,’ Luisa smiled, triumphantly holding up the box of candy canes she had just found stuffed between streamers and glass snowflakes.

‘Luisa,’ Rose warned. ‘Can we finish the lights before you start defiling our Christmas tree with sugar?’

‘No,’ Luisa said, sticking a candy cane in her mouth. ‘I need to see how it looks.’

Rose rolled her eyes. ‘What do you think of the lights?’

‘They look great, and go very well with the candy canes,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Can we put _any_ of the glass ornaments in the tree?’

‘Of course, I want branches bending down with the weight of the ornaments hanging from them.’

Rose sighed. ‘It’s a good thing I love you.’

Luisa smiled back at her, and two hours later they had a tree decorated to both of their likings. Full but not too full. Rose would just have to learn how to live with the candy canes.

‘Just one thing left to do,’ Rose said as she pulled the tree topper from its box.

‘Want to do the honors?’ she smiled as she handed the star over to Luisa.

‘I can’t reach,’ Luisa said.

‘Let me help then,’ Rose smiled as she suddenly lifted Luisa up.

‘Rose!’ Luisa giggled.

‘Just put it on, please,’ Rose groaned.

‘Done,’ Luisa smiled proudly as Rose put her back down.

‘Looks good,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s shoulders.

‘It does,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose cheek. ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Rose smiled back, kissing Luisa properly.


	3. Let it Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow is on the horizon and Luisa has never been more excited.

Rose mindlessly hummed along with the soft music coming from the radio. The humming interrupted as she tried to blow away a strand of hair that was hanging in her eyes, but to no avail. So instead she brushed it away with the back of her hand to avoid transferring some of the charcoal on it to her face.

‘Rose!’ Luisa called out from their hallway. ‘Where are you?’

Rose quickly flipped to a blank page in her sketchbook and scrambled to her feet just as Luisa walked in.

‘Hey babe,’ Rose said cheerily, too cheerily if Luisa’s reaction was anything to go by.

‘Hey honey?’ Luisa asked, tilting her head to the side. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Nothing,’ Rose smiled. ‘Nothing important anyway.’

‘Rose,’ Luisa said, pursing her lips and raising an eyebrow. Rose had promised Luisa no more secrets. And after everything she had done to Luisa, she understood why Luisa was so serious about it. She just thought that Luisa might forgive her this one little secret.

‘Alright, I was working on your Christmas present,’ Rose smiled, pacifyingly putting her hands up.

‘Are you getting me coal this year?’ Luisa said, her eyebrow still raised, only now in amusement.

‘What?’ Rose frowned. ‘Oh. No,’ she said as she looked down at her hands, her fingers still smudged with black from the charcoal.

‘You better not,’ Luisa smiled as she advanced on Rose. ‘I personally thought I was very good this year,’ she purred, winding a strand of Rose’s red hair around her finger.

‘Lu,’ Rose sighed, Luisa’s proximity already doing things to her.

‘Yes?’ Luisa smirked, coyly stepping even closer.

‘You are not going to make me say you deserve to be on the naughty list,’ Rose sighed.

‘Why not?’ Luisa pouted. ‘It is part of the Christmas fun!’

‘Because it is cheap and predictable.’

‘And you are neither. Got it,’ Luisa grinned, pecking Rose on the lips. ‘But regardless of you working on my gift, I wanted to show you something. Come on,’ Luisa smiled, taking Rose’s hand, apparently not caring about the sooth on Rose’s transferring to her own. ‘Look!’ Luisa said as she pulled Rose in front of the TV. ‘It’s going to snow!’ she said happily as the weatherman predicted light snow for that night.

‘Well, that’s why we’re here,’ Rose said as she kissed Luisa’s temple softly.

She had asked Luisa where she wanted to spent their second Christmas together, and Luisa’s eyes had immediately lit up: snow, she had wanted snow.

So Rose had taken Luisa to her second home in the Swiss Alps, where it always snowed for Christmas. But they had arrived early and the first snow of the season had yet to fall.

‘I love snow,’ Luisa said, her infectious smile spreading to Rose.

‘Now you’ll just have to wait for it,’ Rose smiled.

‘Oh, I will,’ Luisa smiled, dragging one of the large, comfortable chairs around to face the window. ‘I’ll be here. You go work on your present for me.’

Rose smiled, leaning over to kiss the top of Luisa’s head. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa smiled, looking at the grey sky over the mountains.

* * *

‘Lu, come to bed,’ Rose said sleepily as she walked into the living room. It was getting late, she had finished her drawing hours ago, had served Luisa dinner on the chair and had sat with her for a while. All so Luisa could stare out of the window and not miss the first snow.

‘No, I am sure it is going to snow soon,’ Luisa yawned.

‘Luisa, it is midnight. It’s not going to snow. The weatherman was wrong. It happens.’

‘But what if they weren’t wrong? What if I wake up tomorrow and there is this blanket of snow covering the world and I will have missed it.’

‘We’re in Switzerland, there will be more snow,’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa out of the chair.

‘But it won’t be the _first_ snow,’ Luisa sighed, melting into Rose as they walked into their bedroom together.

‘It won’t snow tonight, I promise,’ Rose whispered, kissing Luisa’s hair.

* * *

‘Rose, Rose, wake up,’ Luisa said, softly shaking her shoulder.

‘What is it?’ Rose asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

‘Snow! It’s snowing!’ Luisa said excitedly, already pulling Rose out of bed.

‘Luisa, no. It’s cold,’ Rose said, shivering as her bare feet hit the cold floor.

‘Snow!’ Was all Luisa said as she threw Rose her clothes.

‘Luisa, please. It is cold. It is _early_. Can I just go back to sleep?’

‘No, there’s snow and we are going to enjoy it,’ Luisa said, ducking out of the room for a second and coming back with their coats.

‘Come on! Get dressed! Snow!’

And then she saw Luisa’s smile and she got over the cold, put on pants and a coat and followed her excited girlfriend outside to the balcony. Her feet already numb.

‘Happy now?’ she asked as Luisa stared up at the white flakes falling from the sky, nothing yet sticking to the ground: it truly was the first snow.

‘Yes, very much,’ Luisa smiled as she cuddled into Rose’s side. ‘I love fresh snow.’

‘Well, you can love it for a few minutes more but then we are going back inside,’ Rose grumbled, pretending to be annoyed but there was something very beautiful about the snow falling around them. Even if it had nothing on Luisa’s smile.

‘I love you,’ she smiled as wrapped her arms around Luisa’s waist.

‘I love snow,’ Luisa smiled, staring up at the sky, snow sticking in her lashes.

‘I’ll take it,’ Rose laughed.

They stood there much longer than Rose had intended, the sun slowly dragging itself above the horizon, casting its orangey light on the fresh snow around.

‘Lu, can we go inside now? I’m freezing. No, I _am_ frozen.’

‘Me too,’ Luisa hummed. ‘Best feeling ever.’

Rose laughed and shook her head. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa whispered.


	4. Kiss Her Once for Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luisa gets her hands on some mistletoe, the expected happens.

Luisa had never been a very patient person. Once she set her mind to something, she was going to get it done, waiting for things to happen was not her style. So just sitting there, waiting for Rose to come through the door was making her restless. She had come up with her plan earlier that morning when Rose had gone out grocery shopping, had then gathered the required ingredients for her plan, set it in motion and she still had to wait for Rose to come home.

So she sat on their couch, watching some Hallmark Christmas movie and hoping Rose would return home soon, impatiently drumming her fingers on her legs.

The first noise of tires crunching on snow had Luisa out of her seat, trying to control her grin as she waited for Rose to come through the door.

‘Lu, I’m home!’ Rose yelled as she came through the front door, shaking the snow out of her hair.

‘Look up,’ Luisa grinned as she met Rose’s gaze.

‘Do what?’ Rose asked, obviously confused.

‘Look up,’ Luisa urged, already advancing on Rose.

‘Look up? What? Oh,’ Rose said, a smile forming on her face. ‘Mistletoe.’

‘Yes, mistletoe,’ Luisa grinned, locking her hands behind Rose’s neck, pulling her down for a kiss.

‘I like the mistletoe,’ Rose smiled, swaying Luisa a little in her arms, not yet wanting to let go.

Luisa smiled. ‘Good, that’s why I put it up.’

‘You do know you do not need to hang up a toxic sprig of a plant to get me to kiss you, right?’ Rose smiled, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

Luisa laughed. ‘Please do not refer to the mistletoe as a “toxic sprig of a plant”, it is terribly unromantic. Besides, it is Christmassy.’

‘It _is_ Christmassy,’ Rose admitted, pulling her in for another kiss.

‘See? The mistletoe works,’ Luisa smiled happily.

‘That must be it,’ Rose smiled back. ‘But I do have food in the car that needs to be put away, and I could use your help.’

‘Alright,’ Luisa said putting on her winter coat.

‘Really? You are going to help me put away groceries?’

‘Like that is so unusual,’ Luisa scoffed.

‘It is. You hate carrying things, especially when it is not exactly 80 degrees outside.’

Luisa glared at Rose, but she had to admit Rose was right; she was not that fond of manual labor, but she had a plan and completing it meant carrying some groceries.

‘Come on, let’s go!’ Luisa said, pecking Rose on the cheek as she passed underneath the mistletoe, ready to show Rose that she _did_ carry things.

Rose shook her head and followed her outside with a laugh,

‘Oh! You bought mini marshmallows,’ Luisa smiled as she spotted the bag of fluffy white treats in one of the grocery bags.

‘You said you could not drink hot chocolate without them, and would hate to deprive you of any wintery treats this year.’

‘You are the best,’ Luisa smiled, cradling two bags in her arms, waiting for Rose to grab the others before walking back to the house. Once again pecking Rose on the cheek as they passed underneath the mistletoe.

‘Are you going to do that every time?’ Rose asked with a smile, kicking the front door of their mountain home closed behind her.

‘Yes! That is the whole point of mistletoe,’ Luisa smiled, continuing on to the kitchen, lagging back a bit in the kitchen doorway.

As soon as Rose passed underneath, Luisa pushed herself up on her toes to kiss Rose on the cheek once again.

‘Luisa, what… Oh,’ Rose sighed as she looked up and spotted a second sprig of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

‘Just the main doorway is no fun, we barely go outside. I thought we needed a couple of other ones,’ Luisa smiled innocently as she put her bags down on the counter.

‘A couple?’ Rose asked, taking off her coat before starting to put away their groceries. ‘You booby-trapped the house with mistletoe?’

‘I wouldn’t put it like that exactly. Booby-trapped sounds a little mean. You’ll just be getting kissed, not electrocuted,’ Luisa smiled happily, pleased with her plan.

‘That doesn’t sound so bad, no,’ Rose smiled, pecking Luisa on the cheek.

‘So how about I make us some hot chocolate while you unpack the groceries?’ Luisa suggested as she found the hot chocolate mixture and milk.

‘You’re not gonna help?’ Rose asked.

‘This house is built for tall European people, I cannot reach the shelves,’ Luisa said. Normally she hated admitting she was short, especially to Rose, but if it got her out of putting away the groceries she would sign an affidavit stating it. 

Rose wisely held her tongue about Luisa’s short comment. ‘Alright, I could use some hot chocolate. All that kissing has made me thirsty,’ she said cutely as she kissed the top of Luisa’s head. Just a subtle dig at her height but Luisa would allow it. Rose was doing all the hard work while she was just heating up milk.

Ten minutes later they were all cuddled up on the couch, hot cocoa in hand and Luisa had only kissed Rose twice because of mistletoe on the way to their living room.

‘How much more mistletoe can I expect around the house?’ Rose smiled.

‘Much, much more,’ Luisa grinned. ‘You might be surprised.’

Rose laughed, the sound making climbing up on chairs to hang the mistletoe totally worth it.

‘Does that mean you are going to follow me around the house just to be able to kiss me?’

‘We’ll just let it happen naturally. It is definitely going to stay up all the way to Christmas,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Well, I look forward to stealing kisses from you,’ Rose smiled, sipping her cocoa.

‘So do I,’ Luisa smiled, trying to keep a straight face: she had some more mistletoe surprises waiting for Rose, but those were best saved for later.


	5. Hung Where You Can't See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luisa's more _adult_ plans for the mistletoe. 
> 
> Rated M

Rose looked up from her book as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

‘Oh great, more mistletoe,’ Rose laughed as she spotted the sprig of green in Luisa’s hands.

‘There’s never enough mistletoe,’ Luisa smiled, meeting Rose’s lips in a half upside-down kiss from behind the couch. Making the both of them smile while Luisa walked around the couch to sit down in her lap.

‘I agree,’ Rose said, putting her hands on Luisa’s waist, looking up at her beautiful girlfriend. ‘So what’s the mistletoe for this time?’

‘I thought we could have a little fun with it,’ Luisa grinned, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

‘More fun than you hiding it all around the house to steal kisses from me?’

‘Way more fun,’ Luisa purred, her voice dropping a register.

‘So upstairs?’ Rose breathed, her hands already drifting down to Luisa’s ass.

‘Definitely,’ Luisa smiled, wrapping her arms around Rose’s neck, familiar with what was coming and allowing Rose to pick her up and carry her upstairs. 

‘So what do you have in mind?’ Rose whispered against Luisa’s throat.

‘You will see,’ Luisa said, playing teasingly with the soft hairs at the back of Rose’s neck, trusting her completely to not let her fall.

‘Lu,’ Rose whined, brushing her lips against the underside of Luisa’s jaw, making her girlfriend shiver in her arms. ‘Tell me.’

‘So impatient,’ Luisa smiled, tilting her head back to get away from Rose’s questing lips.

‘Can you blame me?’ Rose husked, depositing Luisa on their bed and immediately crawling on top of her, covering Luisa’s body with her own. ‘You have been teasing me with kisses all day.’

‘Which is why I thought it was time to get a little more creative with the kisses,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Explain,’ Rose whispered, running her hands up underneath Luisa’s shirt.

‘Well,’ Luisa smirked, dutifully lifting her arms above her head so Rose could take her shirt off. ‘The saying is “kiss _underneath_ mistletoe” right?’

‘Yes,’ Rose smiled, pushing the straps of Luisa’s bra off her shoulders, she had a vague idea where Luisa was going with this.

‘So where would you kiss me now?’ Luisa asked as she held the sprig of mistletoe over her lips.

‘Right here,’ Rose husked, pressing her lips against Luisa’s, kissing her deeply,

‘And now?’ Luisa asked, still a little breathless from the kiss as she moved the mistletoe down her neck.

‘Here,’ Rose whispered, brushing her lips against the hollow of Luisa’s throat. Keeping the touch feather light on purpose, making Luisa arch into her a little more.

Luisa then trailed the mistletoe a bit to the left, Rose’s lips following the trail. Using a little more force with each butterfly kiss she pressed to Luisa’s skin. Variation was the key, and as the mistletoe kept moving over Luisa’s body, so did Rose.

Pressing soft, barely there kisses to Luisa’s shoulder. Sucking softly on her collarbone as the mistletoe hover over it, Luisa’s low moan spurring her on to do it again on the underside of her jaw.

She nipped at the soft skin of Luisa’s throat, soothing the marks with her tongue, making Luisa gasp softly.

Her hands weren’t idle as her mouth mapped every inch of Luisa’s skin, brushing up her sides, running her thumbs underneath Luisa’s breasts, drawing random whirls and patterns on the soft skin of her stomach.

‘Rose,’ Luisa mewled underneath her, reaching up with her free hand to cradle the side of Rose’s head, her fingers sliding into her hear. ‘I want to see you.’

‘And I want to see you,’ Rose smirked, teasingly playing with the straps slid halfway down Luisa’s arms.

‘That can be arranged,’ Luisa as she reached behind herself to undo her bra, unceremoniously tossing the garment over the side of the bed.

Rose, not wanting Luisa to feel left out pulled her own shirt over her head, her bra following its path moments later.

She shimmied out of her pants, leaving her just in her underwear.

Before she could help Luisa with the last articles of her clothing, the brunette pulled her in for another heated kiss.

‘The game is not yet over,’ Luisa grinned, her lips kiss-swollen.

‘I want you,’ Rose hummed against Luisa’s throat.

‘And I want you,’ Luisa said, the words vibrating against Rose’s lips. ‘But I am enjoying this game.’

Rose couldn’t deny that she was also quite enjoying it. She and Luisa had been together for over a year now, and they had known each other (biblically) even longer. She knew Luisa inside and out, but sometimes it was nice to take things slow, to explore a little.

So when Luisa trailed the mistletoe down her chest, Rose followed. Pressing a line of soft and sweet kisses to the skin between Luisa’s breasts, wanting to veer to the side and take things to the next level, but abiding by the rules of Luisa’s game.

After another couple of dozen kisses planted all over Luisa’s chest and stomach, Luisa finally dragged the mistletoe back up to her breasts. Rose following eagerly.

As soon as she sucked Luisa’s nipple into her mouth the game was over. Luisa tossing the sprig of green down on the comforter and tangling her hands in Rose’s hair, keeping her anchored to the spot.

‘God, finally,’ Luisa said, arching up into Rose’s touch.

Rose refrained from pointing out that Luisa had only made herself wait this long in favor of lavishing Luisa’s neglected breasts with some attention.

‘Rose, please,’ Luisa moaned softly as she pulled on Rose’s hair.

Rose was more than happy to oblige, kissing down Luisa’s stomach, undoing the button of the brunette’s pants. As she reached the hem of Luisa’s underwear she couldn’t help but stop and laugh.

‘Really?’ she laughed, staring at the tiny cartoon mistletoes on Luisa’s underwear.

‘Well, they do say to kiss _underneath_ mistletoe,’ Luisa grinned.

Rose smiled and did as the saying told her to; never before had she had so much fun with mistletoe.


	6. Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is nothing better than watching a Christmas tree light up, except maybe one or two things...

Luisa rifled through the drawers, tossing out hats and scarves as she looked for her gloves.

‘Lu, we’re going to miss it,’ Rose said as she walked in, raising an eyebrow as she noticed the mess that was formerly their hallway. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I can’t find one of my gloves,’ Luisa sighed as she pulled open another drawer and dumped its contents on the ground.

‘Did you check your other coat?’ Rose asked as she started picking up all the discarded outerwear.

‘Yes, I did. I must have lost it,’ Luisa groaned. ‘And now we are going to miss the tree lighting ceremony.’

‘We still have time,’ Rose said as she checked her watch.

‘I am not going out in this weather without my gloves. It’s below zero!’

‘It is minus 3 degrees Celsius. It is not that cold.’

‘Excuse you, I have lived in Florida my whole life. I can’t go out in below zero temperatures without my gloves.’

‘Alright,’ Rose said, smiling about how dramatic Luisa was being. ‘Here, you can have mine,’ she said as she pulled off her black leather gloves.

‘Really? Thank you!’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose sweetly as she accepted the gloves.

‘Come on, let’s go,’ Rose said, ushering Luisa into the car because in 20 minutes there would be a tree lighting ceremony in the town square. And Luisa, loving all things Christmas, had convinced Rose to go.

Luisa watched her breath form white clouds as Rose drove quickly but carefully down the mountain, the two of them arriving with just a few minutes to spare.

They hadn’t spent a whole lot of time in the town since arriving two weeks ago, the both of them preferring the privacy of their mountain top. But it was beautiful. Cozy streets with small squares, friendly people and beautiful houses. It was one of the last villages that hadn’t been turned into a tourist trap because of the ski slopes nearby. It was just a sleepy mountain town with its baker, butcher and grocer.

Luisa loved wandering through the narrow streets, listening to Rose tell her about her childhood vacations in this very town.

But they didn’t have time for that today; today they hurried along, following the other stragglers to the town square where a large, decorated and thankfully still unlit Christmas tree stood.

‘See? _That_ ’s a Christmas tree,’ Rose teased as she motioned to the colossal tree with her head.

Luisa rolled her eyes, they had bought a Christmas tree for their house last week. And Rose being Rose had wanted the largest they had, while Luisa had her eye on a smaller, more practical tree.

‘Our tree is cute.’

‘But this one is majestic,’ Rose smiled, blowing onto her hands and rubbing them together.

‘I like cute better,’ Luisa smiled, watching Rose with concern. ‘Come here,’ she said, lacing her fingers between Rose’s and putting the taller woman’s hand into her own pocket.

Rose smiled at her, stowing her other hand in her own pocket. ‘Thank you.’

‘It is the least I can do after you lend me your gloves,’ Luisa smiled. ‘And besides, I never get tired of holding you in public.’

‘Neither do I,’ Rose smiled, leaning in to brush her lips against Luisa’s. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa smiled back. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked as a French voice echoed through the speakers set up around the square.

‘You should really take me up on that offer to teach you French,’ Rose whispered into her ear.

Luisa’s cheeks coloring with a light blush. ‘You only offer to teach me French when we’re in bed together. So I am sure it is just dirty.’

‘A little,’ Rose husked. ‘You like it though.’

Luisa shivered, and not from the cold. She _did_ like it when Rose spoke French, or any other of the 15 languages she spoke, in bed. It was irresistibly hot.

‘So what are they saying?’ Luisa asked again.

‘Something about the history of the town, how happy they are with the turnout this year, and that we are almost ready to light the tree,’ Rose translated for her, squeezing her hand softly.

Luisa squeezed back, she couldn’t wait to watch all the little lights around the town square blink on and light up the tree. It filled her with a childlike sense of magic and wonder and she couldn’t wait.

 _‘Dix! Neuf! Huit!’_ the crowd chanted, and Luisa didn’t need to understand French to know that a countdown was happening.

She squeezed Rose’s hand and watched in awe as the lights all around the square blinked on, the small fairy lights racing up the tree in a dizzying pattern, taking her breath away.

‘You didn’t watch,’ Luisa said accusingly as she turned to Rose and found her already looking at her.

‘I was watching your face light up instead of the lights. It was much more beautiful,’ Rose said with a soft, adoring smile, brushing Luisa’s hair behind her ears.

Luisa felt her cheeks flush again, only now for a completely different reason.

‘How would you know that if you weren’t watching the lights?’ Luisa said, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that Rose had made her blush. Again.

‘Because watching your eyes sparkle with happiness and your mouth fall open in awe means much more to me than lights on a tree.’

‘You’re embarrassing me,’ Luisa murmured as she buried her face in Rose’s coat, wanting to hide her burning blush from the world. Rose could be so sweet sometimes.

‘I like seeing you happy. I want you to be happy,’ Rose whispered against Luisa’s hair.

‘Shut up and watch the lights with me, you sap,’ Luisa grumbled.

‘Alright,’ Rose smiled. ‘They _are_ very pretty.’

‘They are, aren’t they?’ Luisa said as she pressed up on her toes to kiss Rose. Rose might have had a point earlier, watching the woman you loved smile was more impressive than a bunch of twinkling lights.


	7. Winter Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose has caught the flu and Luisa goes full doctor.

Luisa paused outside their bedroom door as she heard a suspicious amount of sneezing.

‘Rose?’ Luisa asked, slightly concerned as she opened the door, balancing the breakfast tray in one hand.

‘’Morning,’ Rose croaked.

‘You feeling alright?’ Luisa asked as she put the tray on the side table and sat down next to Rose.

‘Yeah, fine,’ Rose wheezed, immediately being overtaken by another bout of sneezing.

‘So you’re just sneezing because you feel like it?’ Luisa said, combing her fingers through Rose’s hair, noticing the redhead's normally clear blue eyes seemed a little glassy.

‘Allergies,’ Rose smiled, weakly.

‘You don’t have any allergies.’

‘Men,’ Rose coughed.

Luisa laughed. ‘There aren’t any men around, babe. I think you caught the flu yesterday.’ To prove it she brushed her lips against Rose’s forehead, which was definitely hotter than usual.

‘No, I’m fine,’ Rose said, struggling to sit up.

‘Must have been colder then you thought,’ Luisa said as retrieved a bottle of flu medicine from the bathroom.

‘The flu is a virus, it has nothing to do with me wearing gloves or not,’ Rose muttered.

‘It does actually,’ Luisa said, forcing the medicine on Rose who swallowed it with a disgusted look on her face. ‘The cold makes you more susceptible to viruses. So dressing warmly does actually help prevent it.’

‘Well, then I shouldn’t have loaned my gloves to my know-it-all doctor,’ Rose whined, burying her face in the pillow.

‘Aww, you’re whiny when you’re sick. That’s adorable,’ Luisa smiled, carting her fingers through Rose’s hair as she crawled back into bed next to her.

‘I’m not whiny and I am not sick,’ Rose grumbled, hiding her cough in the pillow.

‘You are,’ Luisa said, handing Rose her cup of tea.

‘This is not coffee,’ Rose said after taking one sip, her nose scrunching up adorably.

‘No, it’s tea.’

‘I don’t drink tea.’

‘I am not letting you have coffee. It will just upset your stomach and make you even more miserable.’

‘The tea is making me miserable,’ Rose pouted, taking another sip.

‘No, that’s just the flu.’

‘I hate the flu.’

 Luisa smiled. ‘I love you, now go sleep. You’ll feel better after.’

As it turned out, Rose could not fall asleep as her flu worsened. And as she got worse, she got whinier. And now Rose had finally accepted she was sick, she was more comfortable with bossing Luisa around. But Luisa was not going to let her sick girlfriend walk all over her.

‘Drink this,’ Luisa said, holding a glass out to Rose.

‘Not thirsty,’ Rose grumbled, her voice almost gone.

‘It is full of vitamins, and will make you feel better. Now drink.’

Rose frowned but drained the glass of orange juice very slowly.

‘I’m sorry for being whiny,’ Rose sighed, patting the space on the bed next to her.

‘It’s okay. You’re allowed to be. You feel miserable. And I have known you for nearly 8 years now and this is the first time I’ve seen you look less than perfect. And I lived in a submarine with you.’

‘That was hell on my hair,’ Rose said, sleepily leaning her head on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘I liked it all curly and fluffy. It suits you.’

‘You’re a great girlfriend,’ Rose whispered, her voice getting softer as her eyes started to droop.

‘I know, that is why I slightly drugged you so you can get some sleep and feel better after,’ Luisa said, easing Rose down into a horizontal position.

‘That’s… evil…’ Rose yawned, her eyes already closed.

‘It’s just a little valium. I’m a doctor, it’s totally legit. Love you,’ she said, pressing a kiss to Rose’s forehead.

‘Love…’ Rose already fast asleep before she could finish her sentence.

‘You just rest,’ Luisa smiled, making sure Rose was comfortable. ‘Feel better soon,’ she whispered as she closed their bedroom door behind her.

* * *

‘I can’t believe you drugged me,’ Rose said as came down the stairs a couple of hours later, wrapped in her duvet.

‘You were being annoying,’ Luisa smiled, pulling Rose onto the couch with her. ‘But how are you feeling?’

‘Better, my head still feels stuffy. But I guess the orange juice and the _valium_ helped,’ Rose said, glaring at Luisa a little.

‘Hey, it worked,’ Luisa shrugged, kissing the top of Rose’s head.

‘It did. Sorry for being whiny.’

‘Sorry for drugging you. But we’re even on the drugging front now.’

‘Yes we are,’ Rose laughed, the sound not quite as full and melodious as usual as her voice was hoarse.

‘I don’t mind you being whiny. I like taking care of you, feeling like you need me.’

‘I always need you,’ Rose smiled, leaning in to kiss Luisa only to be turned away at the last second.

‘You’re contagious. I can’t kiss you.’

‘But I feel so much better!’ Rose pouted.

‘And I am glad about that. But the virus doesn’t care.’

‘You won’t even risk getting the flu for me? I thought you _loved_ me?’ Rose whined, her eyes getting some of their healthy sparkle back.

‘You’re so dramatic. And the flu only made it worse,’ Luisa groaned, faux annoyed.

‘Say you love me,’ Rose whined, wrapping her arms Luisa’s neck and dragging her down on top of her. ‘Say it. I don’t like it when you don’t say it back.’

‘So needy,’ Luisa laughed. ‘Now let go of me, you’re passing your germs on to me.’

‘Say you love me!’ Rose pouted, tightening her grip on Luisa.

‘Fine, I love you.’

‘I love you, too,’ Rose smiled, pecking Luisa on the cheek before releasing her. ‘This flu will be over before Christmas, right?’ Rose said, curling into Luisa’s side.

Luisa laughed. ‘Yeah, I think you’ll be better in three weeks.’

‘Good, because I have plans,’ Rose murmured, her random burst of energy fading and her eyes falling closed again. It seemed she wasn’t completely better yet. So as Rose napped, Luisa was left to wonder what Rose had meant by “plans”.


	8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose is still recuperation from the flu, so Luisa decides a movie marathon is needed.

‘Rose, I’m home!’ Luisa called out, taking off her coat and kissing Rose on the cheek.

‘You still won’t kiss me?’ Rose pouted as she pulled away. ‘It’s been two days!’

‘And you are still coughing and sneezing. You’re not cured yet.’

‘I miss kissing you,’ Rose whined

‘This is a sacrifice on my part too! You look very cute in my clothes and I really want to kiss you,’ Luisa said as she took in the sweatpants and sweater combo Rose was wearing.

‘Your clothes are more comfortable,’ Rose said, burying her nose in the neck of the sweater.

‘Don’t do that,’ Luisa sighed. ‘It makes you look adorable and it's getting hard to resist kissing you.’

‘You do know I am a former evil mastermind, right? This is all part of my evil plan,’ Rose grinned.

‘The emphasis is on the _former_ , meaning you should _no longer_ make evil plans. Especially evil plans to get your girlfriend sick!’

‘But I very selfishly want to kiss you,’ Rose whined. ‘And I am sure I am not contagious any more…’

‘I might not be a virologist,’ Luisa started, looping her arms around the back of Rose’s neck. ‘But I do have an M.D. and I am telling you, you are still contagious and I will get sick if we kiss.’

‘Close mouthed?’ Rose tried, smiling adorably.

‘No, because I know you and you will convince me to use tongue and I will get the flu and our wintery, Christmassy activities will be on hold for another week.’

‘I told you I was fine to go out and enjoy the snow with you. I know you have wanted to build a snowman for a week now.’

‘You’re staying inside until that cough is gone,’ Luisa said, looking sternly at Rose who was turning red as she tried to hold back a cough. ‘Just let it out.’

‘Thank you,’ Rose squeaked, coughing a couple times until she calmed down.

‘You’re not going outside,’ Luisa said, rubbing Rose’s back soothingly. ‘And I am not kissing you.’

‘Can I at least get a hug?’

‘Yes, you can get a hug,’ Luisa said wrapping her arms around Rose’s shoulders, hugging her tightly. ‘Besides, there are plenty of wintery and Christmassy activities we can do inside.’

‘Like what?’

‘I have a whole bunch of Christmas movies burning a hole in my Netflix account,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose’s cheek as she pulled away from the hug.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really. You escaped this last year because the Wi-Fi on your tropical island sucked. But this year you are watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.’

‘Do I have to?’ Rose said, looking more miserable now than she had when she’d come down with the flu.

‘Yes,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I got snacks!’

Half an hour later Luisa had managed to drag Rose in front of their TV, strap her down with a fluffy blanket and even given her a forbidden cup of coffee to get her to stay on the couch.

‘How have you never seen this before?’

‘I do not watch a lot of movies,’ Rose said, sipping her coffee.

‘Really? Then where did you get your flair from the dramatic from? And don’t say books.’

‘Books,’ Rose smiled.

‘You’re such a rich, elitist snob,’ Luisa teased.

‘I think they kicked me out of that club for perpetrating the wrong kind of financial crimes. And for being gay. And for wearing sweatpants and sweaters.’

‘That you _stole_ form me!’ Luisa smiled, curling into Rose’s side, pulling her arm around her shoulder.

‘I did. I don’t own any sweaters. I am a rich, elitist snob remember?’

‘Watch it or I get to call you the Grinch for the rest of December.’

‘I like Christmas! You can’t call me the Grinch!’ Rose said, shocked.

‘Grinch,’ Luisa teased as she selected the movie.

‘First no kisses and now I am the Grinch? Was getting the flu not punishment enough?’

‘Shh, just watch the movie. Candy cane?’ she said as she offered Rose one.

‘Why not,’ Rose sighed, reluctantly accepting the treat.

‘Love you,’ Luisa smiled, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder.

Rose sighed. ‘I love you too.’

They lapsed into silence as the camera passed over Whoville and the rhyming only made Rose sarcastically sigh and groan and roll her eyes occasionally.

Even after a year, Luisa still reveled in being able to do this with Rose, to sit close to her, in silence, and feel completely at home.

Without thinking about it, she tangled their hands together, rubbing her thumb across Rose’s knuckles.

‘Please stop doing that.’

‘Mmh?’ Luisa asked, being pulled from her thoughts. ‘Stop doing what?’

‘That thing you do with your thumb, rubbing it over my knuckles. It makes me want to have sex with you, and as I can’t kiss you, I am sure sex is out, too,’ Rose sighed.

Luisa smiled. ‘I wasn’t playing with your hands because I wanted to have sex with you.’

‘You don’t want to have sex with me? I’m hurt. This is the longest we’ve gone without sex in over a year!’

‘Of course I want to have sex with you, but not until you’ve got a clean bill of health. I was just thinking about you.’

‘So what were you thinking about me?’

In truth, Luisa was still thinking about Rose’s half-revelation of her “plans” for Christmas from when she was running a fever. She had no idea what Rose had meant and she didn’t want to ask because it seemed sort of secretive. But it was driving her crazy.

‘Just that I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Rose said as she leaned in, sneakily trying to steal another kiss.

‘Nope,’ Luisa said, pressing her finger against Rose’s lips. ‘Just watch the movie.’

‘I bet the Grinch just became evil because his girlfriend would kiss him,’ Rose pouted.

‘I knew you would like the movie,’ Luisa said, cuddling into Rose again, forgetting about Rose’s secret “plans” for now.


	9. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose gets cleared to kiss Luisa after her flu and Rudolph steals the show.

Luisa brushed her lips softly against Rose’s forehead, checked her eyes for any signs of glassiness and was about to ask Rose to say the alphabet backwards when Rose interrupted her.

‘Luisa, can you please just clear me so I can kiss you?’

‘Fine, you’re cleared,’ Luisa said, she didn’t really want to wait any longer herself. The last couple of days had been the longest of her life. Not only because Rose got really whiny and increasingly dramatic – which was an astonishing feat all by itself – but also because they hadn’t been able to kiss or do _anything_ else.

‘Thank god,’ Rose breathed, immediately pulling Luisa in by her hips. Crashing their mouths together in a hungry, desperate kiss, tongues delving deep into each other’s mouths, trying to make up for lost time.

‘Mmh, I missed this,’ Rose hummed as she pulled away, her lips swollen and her voice breathless.

‘Me too,’ Luisa smiled, twirling a strand of Rose’s red hair around her finger before leaning in again to steal another kiss.

‘Can I just take you upstairs and catch up on the other things we missed out on the last couple of days?’ Rose purred.

‘Nope, winter activities first!’ Luisa said, there was time for sex later.

‘Lu, please, I want you,’ Rose husked, pushing her hands up underneath Luisa’s shirt.

‘And I want to pet a reindeer. Today is the last day they’re in town, so we’re going out.’

‘I can’t believe you’re picking Rudolph over me, _your girlfriend_ , who’s offering you sex,’ Rose pouted.

‘And you’ll still be there, wanting to sleep with me, when we get back from petting Rudolph,’ Luisa grinned, brushing her lips softly against Rose’s. ‘Now, go get dressed, we’re going out,’ Luisa smiled, tossing Rose a hat, scarf and most importantly, a new pair of gloves.

‘Fine,’ Rose muttered, putting on her scarf and hat.

‘Good, now let’s go,’ Luisa said excitedly. She hadn’t had a whole lot of time to go out and enjoy the snow the last of couple of days because Rose had been housebound and in need of constant attention, not so much because of the severity of her flu but because of who she was as a person. ‘You can drive,’ she said as she tossed Rose the keys. ‘I hate driving in the snow, so I am glad you’re better.’

‘Yeah, me being able to drive is apparently the _only_ thing you missed about me,’ Rose pouted.

‘Hey, I cleared you, you no longer get to be whiny,’ Luisa said, grabbing a hand of loose snow and throwing at Rose’s head.

‘Did you just throw snow at me?’

‘No, must have fallen from the trees,’ Luisa said, smiling innocently.

‘Just get in the car,’ Rose said, shaking the snow from her hair. ‘Let’s go meet Rudolph.’

‘Love you,’ Luisa smiled, reaching over to pull Rose in for a kiss by her scarf. ‘I missed that too,’ she smiled as she pulled away.

Rose smiled as she started the car. ‘After we pet Rudolph, anything else you want to do?’

‘Can we just wander through town for a bit? Do some window shopping?’ Luisa asked.

‘Of course. It is actually nice to be out of the house,’ Rose smiled, looking at Luisa through the rearview mirror for a moment before returning her focus to the road.

* * *

‘So where are these mythical reindeer of yours?’ Rose asked as she helped Luisa out of the car ten minutes later.

‘Town square,’ Luisa smiled, linking her hand together with Rose’s.

‘Let’s go there, then,’ Rose smiled.

‘Do you think you’ll ever get used to this?’ Luisa asked, looking up at Rose, at her red hair poking out from underneath her wooly hat, her cheeks wind chafed and flushed from the cold, looking as stunning now as she had done in her trophy-wife dresses.

‘Used to what?’ Rose asked.

‘This. Us,’ Luisa said. ‘The two of us being together, the whole world at our feet. I didn’t think we would ever have this.’

‘And now we do,’ Rose smiled.

‘And now we do,’ Luisa echoed. ‘But come on! I want to pet Rudolph!’ she said pulling Rose along by the hand as she sped up, but she hadn’t counted on the snow being slippery and immediately lost her footing.

‘Careful!’ Rose said, catching Luisa just before she smacked onto the ground.

‘Snow gets slipper, got it,’ Luisa laughed. ‘But look! Rudolph!’ Luisa grinned, her near fall already forgotten.

‘He is kind of cute,’ Rose smiled as a reindeer walked up to the fence, letting them stroke his muzzle.

‘He is beautiful,’ Luisa smiled. ‘And so is this one,’ she cooed as another reindeer joined them at the fence, obviously wanting to be pet as well.

‘I am not getting you one for Christmas,’ Rose laughed.

‘Awww, not even a tiny one?’ Luisa pouted, trying very hard to keep her smile under control.

‘No living Christmas presents,’ Rose smiled.

‘So getting me a cat is not your plan for Christmas,’ Luisa mused, mentally crossing it off her list.

‘My plan?’ Rose said, raising an eyebrow.

‘You mentioned something about having a plan for Christmas when you were loopy from the flu,’ Luisa said casually.

‘I have no memory of that,’ Rose said, her tone as unreadable as ever.

‘But you do have a plan?’ Luisa said, turning to Rose to better gauge her emotions.

‘I might have,’ Rose smiled, her blue eyes momentarily taking on a vulnerable warmth Luisa couldn’t place. ‘But you’ll just have to wait and see,’ she grinned, the trace of vulnerability gone.

‘I am patient,’ Luisa smiled.

‘No, you’re not. But that’s okay. I still love you,’ Rose smiled, petting Luisa’s hand. ‘So had enough of Rudolph?’

‘Yeah, let’s go shopping,’ Luisa smiled, linking her hand with Rose’s again. She was going to get Rose’s plans out of her one way or another. She had a little over two weeks to accomplish it, more than enough time.


	10. Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some culinary-challenged people to attempt Christmas baking!

Luisa looked at the staggering amount of sugar, flour and butter on the kitchen counter and felt overwhelmed all of the sudden.

‘Do you think we might be a little over-ambitious?’ Luisa said as Rose tied the apron behind her back.

‘By doing all our Christmas baking ourselves while having no baking experience whatsoever? I would say it’s ambitious, not overly so.’

‘Yeah, we have a combined IQ of over 300, we should be able to follow a list of instructions and make cookies.’

‘And cakes, don’t forget the cakes,’ Rose smiled.

‘I mean, how hard can it be?’ Luisa said, picking up the first of the stack of recipes. ‘Nigella wouldn’t lie to us.’

‘No she wouldn’t, she is far too beautiful for that,’ Rose smiled, starting to measure out the sugar.

‘She really is,’ Luisa nodded in agreement. ‘And she can cook too.’

‘The perfect woman.’

‘Truth,’ Luisa said, opening different jars of spices.

‘So we’re doing the gingerbread first, right?’ Rose said, throwing the butter, sugar and syrup into a pan to melt it together.

‘Yes, it makes the whole house smell like Christmas,’ Luisa smiled, measuring the cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

‘That does smell like Christmas,’ Rose said, stirring her buttery concoction.

‘So can I throw this in yet?’ Luisa said as she joined Rose at the stove.

‘Not yet,’ Rose said as she picked the recipe off the counter. ‘This needs to cool down a little and then two eggs need to be added as well,’ she said as she turned off the heat. ‘You can measure the flour.’

‘We should bake more. It’s fun,’ Luisa said, hopping onto the counter, nearly knocking off the flour.

‘And the best part is we get to eat our efforts afterwards,’ Rose smiled, stepping in between Luisa’s legs, stealing a kiss.

Luisa smiled as Rose pulled away.

‘So now we need to put our combined IQ of over 300 to use and figure out how cooled down this needs to be before we can add the eggs,’ Rose mused thoughtfully.

‘Well, if it gets too cold you can’t stir it, but if it is still too hot the eggs will scramble. I have been watching a lot of Master Chef,’ Luisa explained as Rose looked at her skeptically. ‘That’s something they say a lot.’

‘So this should be fine then,’ Rose said. ‘You want to do the honors?’ she asked as she handed Luisa two eggs.

‘Yes, please,’ Luisa said, breaking the egg a little too enthusiastically so bits of shell ended up in the mixture.

Rose wordlessly handed her a fork to fish them out, cracking the other egg into the pot herself.

‘Now add the spices and combine,’ Rose read.

‘We’ll be pastry chefs in no time,’ Luisa smiled proudly.

‘Well, chef,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s waist from behind, ‘time to add the flour and the bicarb.’

‘So what now?’ Luisa asked, leaning back a little further into Rose as she stirred the mixture.

‘Keep stirring until it forms a loose dough,’ Rose whispered in her ear.

‘It’s hard, you do it,’ Luisa sighed, the muscles in her wrist already burning from exertion.

But Rose just covered Luisa’s hand with her own, helping her combine the ingredients.

‘We should definitely do this more often,’ Luisa said, her voice a little breathy.

‘We should,’ Rose whispered, brushing her lips against Luisa’s neck. ‘I think this is done now. It just needs to rest in the fridge overnight so we can cut shapes tomorrow.’

‘See? Easy,’ Luisa said.

‘It is,’ Rose smiled, stealing a piece of the dough and popping it into her mouth.

‘Hey!’ Luisa said, swatting Rose lightly with the spoon. ‘Don’t eat raw dough. You just got over the flu.’

‘But it is delicious,’ Rose smiled innocently. ‘Try some,’ she said, offering Luisa another stolen piece of dough.

Rolling her eyes Luisa licked the dough of Rose’s finger. ‘Okay, that does taste nice.’

‘It tastes like Christmas,’ Rose smiled sneaking another piece of dough from the counter.

‘We should not be eating this,’ Luisa said, popping another piece of unbaked gingerbread into her mouth. ‘There will be none left to make the actual cookies.’

‘It’s just so good, and the hint of danger of contracting salmonella makes it exciting, you know?’ Rose laughed.

‘But making gingerbread cookies to eat will also be really nice,’ Luisa said as she finished wrapping the Clingfilm around their noticeably smaller ball of dough and chucking it in the fridge.

‘So what’s next on our itinerary?’ Rose asked.

‘Well, we still have to make the chocolate- and the fruitcake and I wanted to make white chocolate chip cookies as well,’ Luisa said as she flipped through the binder of recipes.

‘You do know it is just the two of us, right?’ Rose laughed, pulling Luisa into her arms.

‘I know, but they all look so delicious and it is still a couple of days until Christmas, so we have plenty of time to eat it all.’

‘If you say so,’ Rose smiled, nuzzling Luisa’s neck.

‘And about Christmas being only a few days away…’ Luisa said, pulling away a bit so she could look Rose in the eyes. ‘Tell me what you’re planning.’

‘No, you’ll just have to wait for Christmas morning,’ Rose smiled.

‘So it’s a present,’ Luisa said, happy to have some sort of clue to what Rose’s big plan was.

‘I didn’t say that,’ Rose smiled mysteriously.

‘Rose, please, you know I don’t like surprises,’ Luisa whined.

‘You’ll like this one,’ Rose promised, kissing Luisa’s lips softly. ‘At least I hope so.’

‘If you would just tell me what it was,’ Luisa sighed, ‘I could tell you if I liked it.’

‘Now where’s the fun in that?’ Rose smiled. ‘But let’s get back to baking, lots of things to do.’

‘Fine, and I still have three days to figure it out. And I will figure it out,’ Luisa pouted, starting to measure the flour.


	11. Five Golden Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas Day and Luisa will finally find out what Rose has been planning for the last couple of weeks.

Luisa tried to feign sleep a little longer, but it was Christmas morning and after nearly a month of unsuccessfully trying to figure out what Rose’s plans were, she would finally find out today.

No longer able to reign in her excitement, Luisa turned around and found Rose… was already up.

Now, granted, she was not that much of a morning person and Rose waking up before her was not that unusual, but it was Christmas morning, and Christmas morning meant cuddling in bed until they decided it was time for breakfast and presents. That was how they had done it last year. But last year Rose hadn’t had a plan.

Equal parts suspicious and excited Luisa made her way down the stairs.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Rose smiled from her spot on the couch.

She looked angelic, a halo of Christmas lights lighting up her vibrant red hair. She was wearing the cute flannel pajamas with reindeer on them Luisa had gotten her as a joke but Rose actually liked.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Luisa smiled, brushing her lips against Rose’s in a closemouthed kiss before joining her on the couch.

‘How did you sleep?’ Rose asked.

‘Like someone without children sleeps on Christmas Eve,’ Luisa joked, laughing at Rose’s confused expression. ‘Like an angel.’

‘Oh, good,’ Rose smiled.

‘You?’ Luisa asked, pulling Rose’s arm around her shoulders.

‘Like someone _with_ children sleeps on Christmas Eve,’ Rose yawned.

‘Oh, that’s not good. How come?’ Luisa asked. ‘Did it have anything to do with your plan?’ Her concern for Rose making way for excitement again.

‘Maybe a little,’ Rose smiled, drawing Luisa in for another kiss.

‘Will you tell me what it is?’ Luisa pouted.

‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Rose said, looking over at the pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree.

They had decided last year that they would each get the other three small presents and then fill the empty space underneath the tree with things they needed or could both use. It looked festive without either of them going overboard as they had the tendency too.

The gifts looked exactly like they had last night. Luisa couldn’t spot anything that shouldn’t be there, which meant that Rose’s “planned” gift had been there the whole time.

‘Rose, tell me,’ Luisa whined.

‘I don’t want to spoil the surprise,’ Rose grinned smugly now she had the upper hand.

‘Can I unwrap them?’

‘Breakfast first,’ Rose smiled.

‘Rose,’ Luisa whined. ‘Please?’

‘You are like a child,’ Rose laughed.

‘It’s Christmas, I get to behave like a child. Especially when my girlfriend is being all secretive and refuses to tell me what she has planned for today.’

‘Alright, one present,’ Rose laughed. ‘But I get to pick.’

Luisa narrowed her eyes. ‘That’s unfair. You are never gonna give me _the_ present.’

‘Just trust me, okay?’ Rose said, smiling warmly at Luisa as she grabbed a gift wrapped in shiny golden paper.

‘Okay,’ Luisa said, flipping the book-shaped present over in her lap to carefully remove the tape, not wanting to tear the paper. ‘Is this what you were working on the day I interrupted you with coal on your hands?’ Luisa asked as the golden paper gave way to reveal a large leather bound book.

‘It is,’ Rose smiled, fidgeting a little as Luisa opened the book.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Luisa whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at a charcoal drawing of herself, the lines so expertly placed it felt like she was staring into a mirror. As she turned the page more drawings appeared, drawings of the two of them together, of their lives. ‘Thank you,’ Luisa said as she reached the last drawing about halfway through the book. ‘It’s really beautiful.’

‘It’s not done yet,’ Rose said, her voice soft.

‘Not enough time?’ Luisa asked laughingly.

‘No, I didn’t know if you’d say yes,’ Rose said, presenting Luisa with a black velvet box.

‘Rose…’ Luisa said, the lump already forming in her throat making it hard to speak.

‘Luisa,’ Rose smiled, her blue eyes suspiciously shiny, but her voice steady. ‘I love you, and I am so grateful you are my girlfriend, but I would like you to be my wife. Will you marry me?’ she asked as she opened the ring box.

‘Yes, I will,’ Luisa said, not even needing a moment to think about it, nodding her head as well, not certain if she had actually made a sound.

Rose’s smile widened as she gingerly lifted the ring from the box and placed it on Luisa’s finger. ‘I love you,’ she whispered as she pulled Luisa in for a kiss.

‘I love you too,’ Luisa whispered back, wiping at her cheeks. ‘My Christmas present is not nearly as impressive now,’ she sniffed.

‘You gave me the best present you could have,’ Rose smiled, drying her own tears. ‘You said yes,’ she smiled as she intertwined their hands.

‘Did you ever doubt I would?’ Luisa smiled, squeezing Rose’s hand, the ring heavy but perfect on her finger.

‘I wasn’t sure,’ Rose shrugged. ‘You’re still a bit of a mystery to me.’

Luisa smiled, tilting Rose’s chin up so she could look at her. ‘I love you, so very much. And I can’t wait to be your wife. That’s all I’ve ever dreamed off.’

* * *

Hours later, after their breakfast of chocolate cake and cookies had been consumed and all other presents had been opened, they lay on the couch together, Rose working on the next page in Luisa’s album.

‘I don’t know how we’re going to top this next year,’ Luisa smiled contently as she watched Rose work.

‘A lot can happen in a year,’ Rose smiled. ‘We’ll be married by then.’

‘We should start planning our wedding,’ Luisa smiled brightly.

‘As long as you’re there it will be fine,’ Rose laughed, kissing Luisa again. ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Luisa smiled back, her mind already at the end of the aisle, Rose, all in white, standing at her side.


	12. Snowed In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heavy snow causes all kinds of problems, but as long as Rose and Luisa are together, they will be fine.

Luisa took a deep breath, the cold air burning her lungs and the snow stinging her cheeks. The journey up the mountain had been a haphazard one, driving up a narrow mountain road in what seemed to be the beginnings of a snowstorm was not an experience she was eager to repeat, but she was glad to be back at their mountain home for Christmas.

‘Let’s go inside,’ Rose said, linking their hands together. ‘I know you like the snow but it’s late and freezing, there will be enough time to enjoy it tomorrow when it’s light.’

Luisa nodded, squeezing Rose’s hand, the stones on Rose’s wedding band digging into her palm as she did so.

‘How about I go get our suitcases out of the car and you go make a fire to get this place warmed up a bit?’ Rose said as she rubbed her hands together to get the feeling back in them.

‘Don’t get lost out there,’ Luisa smiled, only half joking as the snow kept falling in a nearly continuous sheet of white.

‘I’ll be careful,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa softly before heading out again.

* * *

Still half asleep, Luisa stumbled towards the bathroom, her feet already having turned to ice from the couple of steps she’d taken on the frozen floors, her breath visible in the air, but it wasn’t until Luisa tried to turn on the bathroom lights and nothing happened that she realized something was wrong.

‘Rose,’ Luisa said, walking back into their bedroom to wake her sleeping wife. ‘I think the power’s off.’

‘What?’ Rose murmured sleepily, pulling the duvet up higher around her shoulder.

‘We have no power,’ Luisa shivered, her arms wrapped tightly around herself to ward off the chills.

‘I’ll go check it out,’ Rose yawned, cursing immediately as her bare feet hit the floor. ‘Fuck it is cold.’

‘The heater isn’t working,’ Luisa said, crawling back into their blissfully warm bed. ‘Nor are the lights.’

Rose murmured something as she threw on a robe and walked shivering into the hallway to go fix the electricity problem. She returned ten minutes later looking a whole lot more awake.

‘It’s not the fuse box. There must be a power outage,’ Rose said as she climbed back into bed. ‘Probably has something to do with the snowstorm outside.’

‘You do not seem overly worried about the fact that we have no heath,’ Luisa murmured as she curled around Rose’s body, the only warm thing for miles.

‘I have you to keep me warm,’ Rose smiled softly, brushing their lips together lazily.

‘We can’t stay in bed the whole day,’ Luisa whispered.

‘Why not? It’s warm and you are here. What else could I need?’

‘Good point,’ Luisa whispered, hugging Rose closer, for now ignoring the problem and sleeping was a pretty great idea.

But sleeping didn’t solve anything and when they woke up a couple of hours later, there was still no power and another problem had been added into the mix.

‘It seems we have been snowed in,’ Rose said as she peeked between the curtains, Luisa joining her to see only an endless sea of white outside, more snow still falling from the sky.

‘How are you so calm?’ Luisa asked, feeling everything but calm. She was from Florida and hurricanes had knocked the power out more than once, but she had always been in a populated area when it happened, never isolated on top of a mountain.

‘Panicking is not going to solve anything,’ Rose smiled, squeezing Luisa’s hand. ‘We have enough food and firewood to last a week and the power will be back on before you know it. We’re in Switzerland, and if I know anything about the Swiss it is that they will have this sorted out before the snow has even stopped. So don’t worry, it will be fine,’ Rose smiled, brushing her lips against Luisa’s, offering her some silent comfort. ‘Now let’s go sit in front of the fire and warm up a little.’

Luisa smiled, feeling a little better already. ‘You go do that, I am going to put on three extra sweaters.’

Ten minutes later Luisa walked into the living room, Rose already sitting sprawled out in front of a blazing fire.

‘What have you got there?’ Rose asked as she spotted the wooden box underneath Luisa’s arm.

‘Because all our other modes of entertainment run on electricity or involve way less clothes than I am comfortable with right now, I thought we could play chess,’ Luisa said, spreading the board out on the floor, getting the pieces in position.

‘Do we have to?’ Rose asked reluctantly.

‘Yes, it will be fun. You do know how to play right?’ Luisa asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Of course I know how to play,’ Rose huffed.

After a couple minutes of playing, Luisa had figured out that Rose _knew_ how to play, she was just _terrible_ at it.

‘Shouldn’t you be good at chess?’ Luisa laughed as she took Rose’s second rook.

‘Just because I was a criminal mastermind does not make me automatically good at chess,’ Rose pouted.

‘No, it doesn’t. Because you suck,’ Luisa laughed.

‘I don’t suck,’ Rose pouted. ‘See, check,’ Rose said proudly as she moved her knight.

‘That’s an illegal move,’ Luisa smiled, moving the knight back to where it came from.

‘Now that was why I was a great criminal mastermind,’ Rose said as she leaned over the chess board, trying to distract Luisa with a kiss as she subtly put an extra piece back on the board.

‘You’re cheating,’ Luisa murmured against Rose’s lips, no longer terribly interested in the game.

‘No, I’m winning,’ Rose smirked, pressing Luisa onto her back and straddling her hips.

‘Sure you are,’ Luisa grinned.

When the power clicked back on hours later Luisa had very nearly forgotten it had ever been off. Rose had been right, there was nothing bad about being snowed in together with the love of your life.


	13. The Forest Through the Trees

Luisa happily linked her hand together with Rose as they walked onto the tree plot set up in the town square. The snow had been cleared and they had been able to leave their mountaintop again for the first time since arriving. So Luisa had immediately dragged Rose out of bed and into town.

‘You do know they do not typically run out of Christmas trees on the first day, right?’ Rose yawned.

‘But they might sell the best one and I want that one,’ Luisa grinned.

Rose sighed, rolling her eyes to indicate she still thought Luisa was ridiculous before giving in. ‘Fine, let’s go pick a tree.’

While Rose struck up a conversation in French with the man selling the trees Luisa wandered through the veritable maze of firs, spruces and pines, admiring the different shades of green and the variety of sizes.

‘What did you talk about?’ Luisa hummed as Rose joined her again.

‘The weather, the trouble the snow caused him and what kind of tree he would recommend this year.’

‘So what were his recommendations?’ Luisa smiled.

‘That the Douglas Fir is always a good bet or otherwise the Blue Spruce.’

‘I don’t like the color of the Blue Spruce,’ Luisa said as they stopped in front of a midsized spruce. ‘It’s too gray.’

‘It’s not gray it’s blue, and it will look very nice with white decorations.’

‘We’re not doing white decorations again this year,’ Luisa smiled.

Rose raised an eyebrow at Luisa’s casual announcement. ‘So what are we decorating with this year.’

‘I don’t know yet,’ Luisa shrugged. ‘I will know when I find the tree.’

‘What is wrong with white?’ Rose murmured. ‘We have boxes full of white decorations.’

‘I want something with more color this year,’ Luisa said as she stopped in front of dark green tree with full branches. ‘This one.’

‘What?’ Rose said, obviously not following Luisa’s mental leap.

‘This one. This is the tree,’ Luisa smiled as she turned to Rose.

‘It’s big.’

‘Yes.’

‘I remember being viciously mocked for wanting a big tree last year.’

‘Well, this year all the medium-sized trees didn’t speak to me. This one did.’

‘Okay, tree whisperer,’ Rose teased, squishing Luisa’s sides. ‘We’ll get this one.’

‘I think it needs lots of colors, and probably streamers,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Please spare me,’ Rose sighed dramatically.

‘You’ll love it,’ Luisa smiled as Rose waved over the tree guy and started talking. Luisa tuned out their rapid French and instead tried to imagine what kind of decorations would look best on the tree.

‘So do you want to go shopping for ornaments now?’ Rose asked after reaching some sort of deal with Jean, the specifics unknown to Luisa.

‘Hmm?’ Luisa said, still lost in thought.

‘Shopping, Christmas ornaments, now?’ Rose repeated with a grin.

‘Yes, please,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I am thinking orange and purple.’

‘I am thinking that that is divorce worthy,’ Rose muttered.

‘Don’t even joke about that,’ Luisa said, still smiling. ‘But now orange and purple are in your head. what I am actually going to pick won’t be so bad.’

‘That’s borderline evil. I’m proud of you,’ Rose said as she pressed kiss to Luisa’s temple.

‘I am too,’ Luisa grinned.

* * *

‘What have you got there?’ Luisa asked as Rose walked in with two tiny, foot-high Christmas trees in her arms.

‘Tiny trees,’ Rose grinned as she put them down underneath their much larger Christmas tree.

‘Why?’ Luisa asked, eyebrows furrowed together.

‘Because they are cute and we can put them in the other rooms,’ Rose said.

‘When did you buy these?’ Luisa asked as she inspected the trees.

‘Yesterday at the tree plot,’ Rose grinned, ducking back outside and coming back with another two baby Christmas trees.

‘How? I was with you the whole time,’ Luisa exclaimed, thinking back to the day before.

‘Because you still haven’t taken me up on my offer to teach you French, _mon amour_ ,’ Rose teased, bringing back yet another two tiny Christmas trees.

‘Okay, how many of those do you have?’ Luisa said.

‘There are a lot of rooms in this house,’ Rose smiled innocently as she dropped yet another two miniature trees at Luisa’s feet, a mini-forest slowly forming in their living room.

‘Rose,’ Luisa said, looking at the sea of green in front of her, ‘how many more?’

‘That’s it,’ Rose said as she put the last two down.

‘Oh, just ten, that’s a reasonable number of miniature Christmas trees,’ Luisa mocked.

‘I thought so,’ Rose grinned. ‘Now you get to decorate the big one however you want, and I get to do the little ones.’

‘ _How_ did you outplay me at my own game?’ Luisa said, frankly awed at Rose’s ability to turn the tables on her without breaking a sweat.

‘Because I know you,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa’s cheek. ‘And I might be bad at chess, I am great at outsmarting people.’

‘So it seems,’ Luisa sighed. ‘Won’t you be annoyed the decorations clash?’

‘I thing I am just going to do lights and bows in the small ones. Bows can be any color I want. Even matching yours.’

‘You are the worst,’ Luisa laughed.

‘No, that honor is reserved for your decorating skills,’ Rose smirked.

‘Shut up and go decorate your mini Christmas trees,’ Luisa said, throwing an empty plastic bag at Rose’s head.

‘I love you,’ Rose laughed, blowing her a kiss.

‘I love you too,’ Luisa grumbled. ‘And all these extra trees will just make it more Christmassy. So I am fine with it.’

‘That’s why I did it,’ Rose smiled.

‘You just needed to feel smart because I won at chess, didn’t you,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Maybe a little,’ Rose admitted. ‘But making the house more Christmassy was definitely high on the list as well.’

Luisa shook her head and started decorating her one big tree while Rose busied herself with the ten smaller ones. A couple hours later the end result was indeed both Christmassy _and_ colorful.


	14. Frosty the Snowman

Rose was already halfway out of her coat when Luisa pulled her back outside.

‘Come on!’ Luisa said, pushing Rose further away from the warmth of their house, Rose too stunned to object much.

‘What are we doing?’ Rose asked, confused as Luisa halted in the middle of their snow-covered backyard.

‘We are making a snowman,’ Luisa said happily, already packing a bunch of snow together in her hands.

‘Now?’

‘Yes, now,’ Luisa grinned. ‘You promised.’

‘When did I promise?’ Rose asked, still confused.

‘When we arrived, you said we could enjoy the snow later. It’s later now and I want to enjoy the snow,’ Luisa said matter-of-factly. ‘The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the snow is perfect for making a snowman.’

Rose _did_ remember saying something like that and Luisa looked so excited she didn’t want to disappoint her. ‘Alright, let’s build a snowman.’

‘I love you,’ Luisa said, half jumping onto Rose’s back as she hugged her, nearly collapsing the both of them into the snow, Rose only just keeping her footing.

‘I thought you said snowman, not snow angel,’ Rose laughed as she put Luisa down on the ground.

‘Oh, snow angels are fun too,’ Luisa said, packing more snow onto her fist-sized snowball. ‘But let’s do the snowman first.’

‘Okay,’ Rose smiled, getting started on her own snowball.

‘How big do you think this snowman is going to be?’ Luisa asked laughingly as Rose’s snowball approached 2 feet in diameter.

‘If I am doing this, I am doing it right,’ Rose said, continuing to push the massive ball of snow around the yard to pick up even more snow. ‘It is going to be life-size. At least,’ Rose huffed, wiping the sweat of her brow with the back of her hand.

‘I better start rolling then,’ Luisa smiled, looking at her own significantly smaller snowball.

‘Lu, I need your help, Rose asked after a couple more minutes of rolling.

‘Too heavy?’ Luisa laughed as she approached Rose’s massive ball of packed snow, the thing now almost reaching her waist.

‘A little. I want it in front of that window.’ Rose pointed.

‘You do know we need to get another snowball on top of this one, right?’ Luisa asked as they finally got Rose’s huge snowball in place in front of their window.

‘We can do it. We’re making the snowman to end all snowmen,’ Rose grinned, a childlike enthusiasm falling over her.

‘That’s the spirit,’ Luisa said as she returned to her own snowball, rolling it around to pick up more snow, Rose joining in after a while.

‘I think it has the right size now,’ Rose said as she eyeballed the two snowballs.

‘We are never going to be able to lift this,’ Luisa panted, already feeling like she was overheating in her coat.

‘Of course we are, just grip it tightly and lift,’ Rose grimaced.

‘Who would have thought snow could be so heavy?’ Luisa groaned as she brushed the snow of her shirt, the middle part of their snow finally in place.

‘Don’t complain, this was your idea, remember?’ Rose grinned.

‘I just wanted a cute little snowman,’ Luisa said, helping Rose secure the middle to the bottom by rubbing more snow on it. ‘Not this behemoth.’

‘I don’t do things halfway, you should know that by now,’ Rose smiled.

‘Oh, I know,’ Luisa said, packing the snow in her hands into a ball and playfully tossing it at Rose, hitting her in the shoulder.

‘Did you just…’ Rose said, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Luisa’s innocent smile.

‘Must have fallen from a branch or something,’ Luisa said, innocently continuing to fuse the two parts of their snowman together.

‘Sure,’ Rose nodded, making her own snowball and throwing it at Luisa.

‘Hey!’ Luisa yelped, brushing the snow off her shoulder.

‘Must have fallen from a branch or something,’ Rose mocked.

‘Oh, you’re on,’ Luisa said, never one to back down from a challenge.

‘You started this!’ Rose yelled, ducking as Luisa lounged a volley of snowballs at her head.

‘And I will finish it!’ Luisa laughed, continuing to pelt Rose with snowballs.

‘Never!’ Rose yelled back, starting her own attack on Luisa, their poor snowman caught in the middle.

‘Sneak-attack!’ Luisa yelled, both hands laden with snow as she jumped on Rose’s back, smushing the snow into Rose’s face and neck.

‘Cold!’ Rose spluttered, spinning around to get Luisa off her back, only to have them both end up in the snow.

‘Got you,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose on her wind-chafed cheeks.

‘You did,’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa in for a real kiss. ‘Even if it is usually better to not announce your sneak-attacks.’

‘And yet I still won,’ Luisa grinned, causing Rose to roll her eyes; she didn’t like losing.

‘Let’s finish the snowman and go inside to warm up,’ Rose said, shaking the snow from her hair and clothes as she got up, offering Luisa a hand as well.

They quickly made the head for their snowman, the cold slowly seeping into their bones and making them shiver.

‘He looks good,’ Luisa said as she looked at their snowman, the finished product standing a little taller than Rose.

‘Nearly finished,’ Rose said as she wound her scarf around the snowman’s neck and stole Luisa’s hat to perch on his head.

‘I’ll go get a carrot and some grapes from the kitchen, you go find some sticks to make arms,’ Luisa said, already dashing for the warmth of their house, returning a couple of minutes later.

‘That was fun,’ Rose smiled as they stood in front of their colossal snowman.

‘It was,’ Luisa smiled, wrapping her arm around Rose’s waist and resting her head on Rose’s shoulder.

‘Now let’s go inside and warm up. I’m freezing.’

‘Or…’ Luisa started suggestively, ‘we could turn on the hot tub and take a dip in that.’

Rose’s eyes noticeably darkened. ‘Yes, let’s do that,’ she nodded, eagerly following Luisa inside.


	15. Sticky Sweet

Luisa pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, still feeling cold.

‘Rose,’ she whined, softly kicking her wife in the thigh.

Rose looked up at her over the rim of her glasses, not terribly amused about being kicked. ‘Yes, dear?’ she said sarcastically.

‘I’m cold, can you make a fire?’ she asked, giving Rose her best puppy eyes.

‘You know how to do it, the hearth is right there,’ Rose motioned, going back to her book.

‘But I am cold! And we’re out of firewood,’ Luisa pouted.

‘There’s a whole wall of firewood outside,’ Rose said, not looking up from her book this time.

‘But it is outside. Rose, please?’ Luisa pleaded, throwing herself into the redhead’s lap so she had to look at her.

‘No. I’m comfortable,’ Rose said, teasingly resting her book on Luisa’s face.

‘But I’m not, I’m cold!’ Luisa moaned pitifully, reaching up to cup Rose’s face with her cold hands.

‘Jesus, Lu,’ Rose said, putting her book to the side and clasping Luisa’s hands in her own. ‘You _are_ cold.’

‘I told you!’ Luisa said triumphantly, running her hands up underneath Rose’s shirt, making her squirm. ‘Now go make me a fire, woman.’

‘You’re lucky I love you,’ Rose murmured as she grabbed Luisa’s hands and got up.

‘I love you too!’ Luisa said, hanging upside down off the couch as she watched Rose leave. ‘Your ass looks really nice in those jeans!’ she yelled after her.

While Rose hauled firewood into the house, Luisa disappeared into their kitchen and searched their cabinets for the ingredients she needed.

‘Rose! Did you eat my chocolate again?’ Luisa yelled as she heard Rose walk back in.

‘Check the higher shelves. I hid _my_ chocolate from _you_ there.’

‘Check the higher shelves,’ Luisa muttered mockingly, lifting up on her toes to feel around and indeed encountering an unopened bar of chocolate.

‘I can’t believe you’re hiding chocolate from me, _your wife_!’ Luisa said as she walked back into the living room, arms laden with chocolate, marshmallows and crackers.

‘I am not hiding it from you,’ Rose said, stacking logs in their fire place. ‘I just like having chocolate in the house, and it is there longer if you don’t know where it is.’

‘Just for that I am not making you s’mores,’ Luisa teased, already pushing marshmallows onto her skewer.

‘You’re making s’mores?’ Rose smiled, striking a match and throwing it into the fire place, watching as the flames ignited the wood.

‘Yes, and you’re not getting any.’

‘That’s not very nice,’ Rose smiled, plucking a marshmallow from the skewer. ‘What would Santa say?’

‘That it is your own fault for not sharing your chocolate with me,’ Luisa said, batting Rose’s hands away.

‘Me not sharing with you is the only reason you have chocolate to make s’mores with,’ Rose said.

‘Fine,’ Luisa sighed, pretending like it was a great sacrifice to part with her second skewer.

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled, pressing a quick kiss to Luisa’s cheek.

‘Europeans have not yet figured out the secret to the Graham cracker,’ Luisa sighed as she toasted her marshmallows above the fire now blazing in the hearth, the roll of knock-off crackers resting between her and Rose.

‘No, they have not,’ Rose said, shoving her own marshmallows into the flames so they caught fire.

‘Tone down the dramatics, please,’ Luisa laughed as Rose blew out the flames on her marshmallows.

‘This is not for the dramatics,’ Rose grinned. ‘I like my marshmallows a little charred.’

‘That is not charred. That is burned,’ Luisa said as she put her own perfectly golden brown marshmallows between two crackers.

‘Agree to disagree,’ Rose said, biting into her own slightly charred s’more.

‘Just make sure you don’t _char_ the house down,’ Luisa teased, Rose poking her in the side for her efforts.

‘So are you warmed up yet?’ Rose asked, brushing a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

‘Yes, much better,’ Luisa smiled. ‘See? No longer cold,’ she said as she reached up to cup Rose’s jaw.

‘Your fingers are sticky,’ Rose smiled, leaning further into Luisa’s touch.

‘It’s the marshmallows,’ Luisa whispered, the glow of the fire making Rose’s eyes and the angles of her faced soften, her hair more vibrant than ever.

‘Yeah?’ Rose smiled, tilting her head and leaning closer.

‘Yeah,’ Luisa breathed, closing the distance between them. Rose tasted of sugar and chocolate, the fire was burning warmly beside them and if Luisa thought it was possible she fell even more in love with Rose at that moment.

‘Your lips are sticky too,’ Rose grinned, as she pulled away, fixing her glasses so they sat straight on her nose again.

‘So are yours,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Must be the marshmallows,’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa in for another kiss.

‘Must be,’ Luisa echoed, pulling away with a smile. ‘Let’s make some more.’

Rose laughed, resting her head on Luisa’s shoulder. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa smiled, pricking another couple of marshmallows onto her skewer.

‘Make me some too?’ Rose asked, plucking her book of the couch.

‘Make your own,’ Luisa teased.

‘You criticize the way I make s’mores.’

‘Well, you do it wrong,’ Luisa shrugged.

‘So make me some,’ Rose said, bumping against Luisa’s shoulder.

Luisa rolled her eyes put speared another couple of marshmallows on her skewer.

‘Please burn mine,’ Rose said, her eyes sparkling as she looked into the flames.

‘No, you pyro,’ Luisa grinned. ‘You’re finally gonna find out what s’mores should taste like.’

‘Lame,’ Rose huffed.

‘I knew you just did it for the theatrics,’ Luisa said as she made Rose the perfect s’more. ‘No one likes burned marshmallows.’

‘I do,’ Rose pouted. ‘It makes them less sweet and more crunchy.’

‘Sweet and soft is the _only_ thing you expect from a marshmallow!’ Luisa laughed.

‘No, that’s what I expect from you,’ Rose grinned.

‘Aww, you’re sweet,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Like a marshmallow,’ Rose said

‘Like a marshmallow,’ Luisa repeated, leaning in for another sticky kiss.


	16. What I Swore I Would Never Do

‘No!’ Rose said, backing away from Luisa. ‘No! Never.’

‘Yes! Come on,’ Luisa said, thrusting the sweater at Rose.

‘But it is just so ugly,’ Rose frowned as she held the sweater up, disgust contorting her features.

‘That’s the point, babe, it’s an ugly sweater party.’

‘But yours is cute,’ Rose pouted.

‘Mine is also hideous,’ Luisa said, looking down at her own sweater. ‘I mean, it is green and fuzzy and there is a Christmas tree on it. And look, it lights up!’ Luisa said, poking the star on top of the Christmas tree, causing the lights to sparkle for a couple of seconds.

‘Yet you still look adorable. I cannot pull this thing off,’ Rose said, throwing the hideous pink sweater onto the bed and disappearing into their walk-in closet.

She watched with interest as the shirt Rose had been wearing up until that point flew out of the closet as well. Luisa sat down on the edge of the bed, she had the feeling Rose was going to be a while.

‘Can’t I wear this one?’ Rose said, smoothing a deep red sweater down over her stomach.

‘Yeah, no,’ Luisa said, shaking her head. The sweater fit Rose extremely well, showing off her narrow waist and breasts. ‘You look way too gorgeous.’

‘Isn’t that what you want? For your wife to look gorgeous?’ Rose pouted, sashaying over to Luisa, wrapping her arms around her neck and cozying up to her.

‘Not when we’re going to an ugly sweater party and I am wearing a light-up Christmas tree,’ Luisa said, pushing Rose off her lap, handing her the ugly Christmas sweater again.

‘It is so shapeless,’ Rose sighed, looking more upset about having to wear an ugly sweater than Luisa had ever seen her look about anything else. ‘And the color…’

‘Get back into the closet and put on that sweater,’ Luisa smiled as pushed Rose from the bed.

‘We’re married, I think it’s a little late for me to get back into the closet,’ Rose grinned.

‘Ha, you’re so funny. Now go get changed.’

‘Fine,’ Rose moaned, dragging herself back into the closet, not looking happy about it.

‘Can’t I just wear this?’ Rose said as she walked out of the closet, wearing only her jeans and bra, holding up a white wooly sweater.

‘No, the pink sweater. Come on, Rose. You’re behaving like a toddler.’

‘But this one looks so much better on me,’ Rose pouted.

‘Do I have to put it on you myself?’ Luisa said.

‘I think you are going to have to,’ Rose nodded, crossing her arms. ‘I just can’t wear that. It goes against everything I believe.’

‘What kind of belief system do you have that is against hideous pink sweaters?’ Luisa asked teasingly.

‘The belief system of good taste,’ Rose said, arms tightly crossed underneath her breasts, distracting Luisa for a minute.

‘Come on, Rose! It even has roses on it!’ Luisa said, holding the sweater up. ‘I know you love roses.’

‘Luisa,’ Rose whined. ‘It is so ugly. The roses don’t make it any better. They just clash with the pink. And they make no sense in Santa’s beard.’

‘He is a hipster Santa?’ Luisa said. ‘I don’t know why they are there, Rose, just put it on. We’re already late.’

‘Please don’t make me wear it. It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen and I wore boxy pantsuits for half a year.’

Luisa laughed. ‘You still looked great in those, and you will look great in this one. Just put your hair up or something.’

‘I didn’t know you liked my hair up,’ Rose grinned, putting her hands on Luisa’s hips.

‘This is not going to distract me,’ Luisa started, stroking a lock of hair behind Rose’s ears. ‘And I always like your hair. Whatever length, color or style,’ Luisa smiled.

‘So want to bail on this party and have sex with me instead?’ Rose grinned. ‘I am already wearing only a bra.’

‘Rose, no,’ Luisa said, pushing Rose away by her shoulders. ‘You are going to put on that sweater and we are going to that party.’

‘Why? It is so ugly and all these people are so annoying and _French_.’

‘First of, they are all Swiss. And second, I love you, but I want to talk to other people as well and our neighbors were nice enough to invite us over for a party despite not knowing us at all.’

‘There is a reason they don’t know us and please don’t make me go while wearing that sweater.’

‘Put it on,’ Luisa said sternly. ‘Now.’

Rose pouted, reaching behind her back.

‘Don’t you dare unhook your bra to trick me into having sex with you!’ Luisa warned.

‘Fine!’ Rose sighed, putting her hands up.

‘You’ll look great, now put it on,’ Luisa said, throwing the sweater at Rose again. ‘I leave in ten minutes, and you come with me while wearing that sweater or you can stay here and I will not have sex with you until Christmas. Your choice.’

Rose stared at her, mouth hanging open. ‘You wouldn’t!’

‘Oh, I will,’ Luisa said, walking out of the bedroom, a smug grin on her face.

* * *

‘You look nice,’ Luisa grinned, kissing Rose softly on the cheek.

‘I hate you,’ Rose pouted.

‘Baby, you’re gorgeous. Even in a terrible fluffy pink sweater that has a hipster Santa on it, you are still the most beautiful woman here.’

‘I am not going to forgive you for this,’ Rose said, her arms still crossed.

‘Shh, you look cute,’ Luisa smiled, pressing a kiss to the underside of Rose’s jaw, a spot that she knew would make Rose weak at the knees. ‘And I like your hair up.’

Rose whimpered softly as Luisa pulled away.

‘Now come on, I need you to translate,’ Luisa said.

Rose remained in place.

Luisa rolled her eyes. ‘I will make it worth your while,’ she whispered hotly. Rose suddenly very eager to follow.


	17. Christmas Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very early update today because I will probably be drunk by 9 tonight and forget to post this. Enjoy!

Rose fondly looked over at Luisa, who was sleeping in the passenger seat.

‘Babe, wake up. We’re here,’ Rose said in a hushed voice, stroking Luisa’s cheek softly.

‘Hhm?’ Luisa murmured sleepily, smacking her lips a couple of times before opening her eyes.

‘We’re here,’ Rose repeated.

‘Where’s here?’ Luisa asked, looking adorably confused.

‘Germany. Köln to be more specific.’

‘You didn’t kidnap me again, right?’ Luisa said as she sat up a little straighter. ‘Because we’re married now. You really don’t have to do that anymore.’

‘I didn’t kidnap you,’ Rose laughed, handing Luisa a cup of coffee. ‘We talked about this, remember?’

‘No, I have no memory of going to Germany with you,’ Luisa said, taking a sip of her coffee. ‘Nor do I have any memory of getting into this car.’

‘That last thing might be because I woke you up at 4 this morning and you pretty much sleepwalked to the car, immediately falling back asleep as you sat down.’

‘You woke me up at _four_ this morning? What time is it now?’

‘Noon. Come on, let’s go,’ Rose said excitedly.

‘You still need to explain why we are here.’ Luisa said, slowly waking up as the caffeine took effect.

‘You’ll see,’ Rose smiled, getting out of the car, opening the door for Luisa.

‘Fine,’ Luisa said, putting her coat on as joined Rose out on the street. ‘But the reason we are here better warrant the 8-hour road trip to a _different_ country.’

‘It will, believe me,’ Rose smiled, linking their hands together.

‘What city are we in again?’ Luisa asked as they walked over the cobbled streets, towards the city center.

‘Köln,’ Rose smiled, squeezing Luisa’s hand.

‘I have no idea where that is,’ Luisa laughed. ‘I’ve been to Munich for Oktoberfest, but that was a lifetime ago.’

‘We’re to the North-West of Munich, near the border with the Netherlands.’

‘Oh, we should go there,’ Luisa said. ‘Amsterdam’s fun.’

‘I’ve burned some bridges in Amsterdam…’ Rose said guiltily.

‘Like literally?’ Luisa asked, she could never be sure with Rose and her sorted past.

‘There was no actual bridge burning, I just think it would be best if we avoided Amsterdam, the rest of the country is fine.’

‘I am sort of curious to know what you did to get banned from Amsterdam, but I feel like I’ll be better off not knowing.’

‘That’s a wise decision,’ Rose smiled.

‘So will you finally tell me why we are here?’ Luisa asked, Rose looking way too smug over her pseudo-kidnap of her over country lines.

‘This is why we are here,’ Rose said as the street they had been walking opened up onto a large square filled with people and tiny wooden stalls.

‘What’s this?’ Luisa asked, eyes wide as she tried to take everything in at once.

‘ _Weinachtsmärkte_.’ Rose smiled as Luisa stared at her in confusion. ‘Christmas Market,’ she translated. ‘The biggest one in Germany, there are places like this all over town. They sell Christmas decorations and food, that kind of thing. But mostly it’s just fun.’

‘It’s beautiful,’ Luisa smiled as she looked at all the snow covered stalls.

‘Worth getting up at 4 AM?’

‘Definitely, especially as I just slept the whole driver over here.’

‘You do have the penchant to sleep while on the road.’

‘Habit left over from med-school; you sleep when you can.’

‘Good habit,’ Rose smiled, brushing her lips against Luisa’s cheek.

‘It didn’t have much to do with the studying, more with the partying,’ Luisa smiled, no longer burdened or embarrassed by her past. Dating a criminal put her own indiscretions into a completely different perspective.

‘Want to get some food?’ Rose asked. ‘I know you must be hungry.’

20 minutes later they were wandering across the square with a selection of sweet and savory snacks, stopping by stalls to admire the wares.

‘Pass me the almonds?’ Rose asked.

‘But they are so delicious!’ Luisa said, cautiously guarding the bag from Rose.

‘We can always buy more,’ Rose laughed.

‘So what made you decide to come here?’ Luisa asked.

‘I wanted to show it to you, I thought you would appreciate it.’

‘You’ve been here before?’ Luisa asked, she and Rose had been together for a while now and had known each other for close to a decade, yet Rose’s past was still a mystery to her.

‘Yes, when I was a child I came here every year with my father and stepmother. It was nice,’ Rose smiled.

‘So what would you do?’ Luisa asked, squeezing Rose’s hand, she was never going to say no to Rose sharing something from when she was a child. Even if it was kind of hard to imagine the woman next to her as a little girl.

‘Just wander around, eat junk food and we would each get to pick one Christmas ornament to buy,’ Rose smiled.

‘That’s nice. Thank you for sharing this with me,’ Luisa said as she looked around the market place. ‘It’s wonderful.’

‘Thank you for coming along with me.’

‘Still not sure that was voluntary,’ Luisa teased.

‘I did not kidnap you!’ Rose said, offended.

‘I still don’t remember discussing going to another country with you,’ Luisa said.

‘Well, I told you about it last night, in bed. It is possibly you might not have heard…’

Luisa raised an eyebrow, elbowing Rose in the ribs. ‘You know it is cheating to ask me for permission when we’re having sex!’

‘Sorry,’ Rose shrugged, not looking sorry in the slightest. ‘I just really wanted to take you here.’

‘Well, it’s nice,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Really nice. Even if I understand nobody here.’

‘You don’t understand anybody at home either,’ Rose laughed.

‘Fair enough,’ Luisa laughed. ‘So let’s go get some Christmas decorations. I want something cute and handmade.’

‘Well, you’ve come to the right place. Everything here is cute and handmade,’ Rose smiled.

‘Let’s shop!’ Luisa smiled, pulling Rose along to the next stall, their smiles not fading.


	18. A Lazy Christmas Morning

Luisa blinked lazily as the sun streamed in through the crack in their curtains. She groaned and turned around, not yet wanting to get up.

Halfway through her turn she bumped into Rose, who had somehow ended up on her side if the bed again.

Smiling, she molded her body around Rose’s, slinging an arm over the redhead’s waist and burying her face in Rose’s curly hair.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Luisa whispered, earning a sleepy hum from Rose in response.

‘You don’t have any plans this year, do you?’ Luisa whispered, stroking up and down Rose’s bare stomach.

‘No, no plans,’ Rose mumbled. ‘Just sleep.’

‘It’s Christmas, Rose. We’ve got to get up.’

‘Do we have to?’ Rose sighed, turning around in Luisa’s embrace and tucking her head underneath Luisa’s chin.

‘Yes, we have cake for breakfast and I want to give you my gift,’ Luisa said a little nervously. Rose might not have a plan: she did.

‘And I want to be lazy and cuddle with you in bed,’ Rose hummed.

‘Rose!’ Luisa laughed as Rose hugged her tighter. ‘Come on.’

‘Five more minutes.’

‘I got you something with roses on it,’ Luisa sing-songed.

‘What did you get me?’ Rose asked, suddenly interested.

‘You will just have to get downstairs and see,’ Luisa teased, patting Rose on the back to get her to move off of her.

‘But I don’t want to,’ Rose whined. ‘I’m nice and warm and comfortable in bed with you.’

‘Alright, how about you put something on and I go downstairs to make us breakfast and grab the gifts?’

‘I like everything except the clothes part,’ Rose grinned.

‘Get dressed, you perv,’ Luisa laughed, throwing Rose a robe. ‘It’s Christmas. Act like it.’

‘You’re no fun,’ Rose pouted.

‘Presents first, sex later,’ Luisa said as she walked out of the room, returning 10 minutes later, finding Rose lounging on the bed.

‘Putting on lingerie is not what I meant with get dressed,’ Luisa said as she ran her eyes up Rose’s body, lingering momentarily on the bra peeking out from a strategically open robe tied loosely around Rose’s narrow waist.

‘It’s red, thus Christmassy,’ Rose smiled, looking very pleased with herself.

‘You’re impossible,’ Luisa laughed.

‘You love me,’ Rose smiled, patting the space on the duvet next to her.

‘I do. But I am still going to unwrap one of my gifts first because you have been nothing but a tease all morning,’ Luisa grinned as she sat down next to Rose, putting the breakfast tray down between them.

‘Mmh, Merry Christmas,’ Rose smiled as took a sip of her coffee. ‘And I love you. So have a gift,’ she said as she pulled a gift from the small pile on the serving tray.

‘Well said, babe,’ Luisa laughed as she pulled the wrapping paper off her gift.

‘Let me help you with that,’ Rose smiled warmly as Luisa lifted the delicate necklace from its box.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Luisa smiled, admiring the sparkling pendant hanging from the silver cord before handing it over to Rose.

‘Just like you,’ Rose whispered as she brushed Luisa’s hair over one shoulder, kissing the top of her spine softly before fastening the necklace around her throat.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa smiled as she looked down at the shining stone hanging just below the hollow of her throat.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Rose said as she pulled Luisa in for a soft kiss.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Luisa smiled back. ‘Now open one of mine,’ she said, handing Rose a small gift wrapped in rose themed wrapping paper.

‘You are just feeding my habit at this point, you know?’ Rose laughed, unwrapping her gift.

‘It’s a fun and harmless habit.’

Rose laughed as she held up her gift. ‘You got tired of me using your perfume, didn’t you?’ she asked as she pulled the bottle from the box.

‘A little, and I want you to smell like you, not like me. Besides, this one suits you better, it smells like roses,’ she teased, Rose spritzing her with the new perfume for her efforts.

‘I like it,’ Rose grinned, smelling Luisa. ‘Smells nice. Thank you.’

‘Now stop using mine.’

‘I will, I do like smelling like you, though,’ Rose smiled, brushing her lips softly against Luisa’s.

‘Next present,’ Luisa laughed there were a couple more they needed to get through before _the_ present.

‘This one is for you,’ Rose said, handing her another gift.

‘Let me guess, matching earrings?’ Luisa mused as she undid the bow.

‘When it comes to gifts no one likes a good guesser,’ Rose laughed, pulling Luisa into her arms.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose on the cheek. ‘This one is for you,’ she said as she handed Rose another present.

‘You know me so well,’ Rose smirked as she unwrapped the silk robe with red roses emblazoned on it.

‘I thought you would appreciate it,’ Luisa said, biting her lip as Rose shrugged out of the robe she was wearing, exposing a tantalizing amount of skin, before putting the new one on.

‘Later,’ Rose promised. ‘I am curious to see what else you got me.’

They exchanged another couple of gifts before Rose reached for the last package on the pile, a thin, rectangular one.

‘I’m assuming this one is for me?’ Rose asked turning the package over in her hands.

‘It is,’ Luisa said, nervously chewing on her thumb nail. Rose might not have had a plan this year, she had. And she wasn’t sure how Rose was going to react.

‘What is it?’ Rose asked as she picked up on Luisa’s nervousness.

‘Just something to think about,’ Luisa shrugged. ‘I have been thinking about it a lot. But if you don’t want to, that’s okay.’

Rose nodded slowly, tearing the paper off and reading the title of the booklet. ‘In vitro fertilization…’ Taking a moment to let the meaning of those words wash over her. ‘You want to have a baby?’

‘I want to have a baby,’ Luisa nodded.


	19. What's in a Name?

Luisa watched with growing concern as Rose climbed up on a chair to finish decorating the Christmas tree. She was on the verge of intervening when a soft smile overtook Rose and she waved her over.

‘She’s kicking,’ Rose smiled as she immediately grabbed Luisa’s hand and pressed it to her stomach.

Luisa smiled as she felt the unmistakable   movement against the palm of her hand. She had felt thousands of babies kick while she was still a practicing medicine but that was nothing like feeling her own child kick. She was still a little upset that she hadn’t been able to carry their baby, and while Rose hadn’t initially been thrilled about the prospect of being pregnant, she had taken to it with the same quiet grace she handled everything.

So to make up for the fact that Rose was doing all the work Luisa had decided to help out wherever she could, which resulted in a slight overbearingness when it came to Rose doing anything that posed even the smallest threat to her health or the health of their unborn child.

‘She’s very active today,’ Luisa smiled as she guided Rose onto the couch. Rose had called her over to feel the baby kick four times already today.

‘Tell me about it, she’s been playing soccer with my internal organs all day,’ Rose groaned.

‘I’m sorry, anything I can do to help?’ Luisa asked, rubbing Rose’s stomach, hoping to calm the over-active child growing in there down a little.

‘You can let me finish decorating the Christmas tree,’ Rose smiled, giving Luisa a knowing look.

‘Alright, let me hold the chair at least?’

‘If it will make you happy,’ Rose sighed, rolling her eyes.

‘It will make me very happy,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Help me up,’ Rose said, shaking her hand in front of Luisa’s face.

‘Well, glad you need my help with some things,’ Luisa grinned, pulling Rose to her feet.

‘It’s this beach ball that I swallowed,’ Rose groaned. ‘I’m six months pregnant and the lady at the shop already asked if I was going to give birth here. I’m huge.’

‘You’re gorgeous,’ Luisa whispered, brushing her lips against Rose’s neck while wrapping her arms around Rose’s waist. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you, too,’ Rose smiled. ‘I did, however, also love my waistline.’

‘You’ll get it back,’ Luisa grinned, kissing Rose’s shoulder. ‘Now go finish your Christmas tree so I can relax again.’

‘Almost done,’ Rose smiled, putting the finishing touches on the tree, before letting Luisa help her down again.

‘So what’s next?’ Luisa asked.

‘Naps. I could use a nap,’ Rose yawned. ‘Creating new life is exhausting.’

‘Is it? Who would have thought,’ Luisa smiled as she sat down on the couch, her back against one of the armrests and her legs spread so Rose could sit between them, resting her back against Luisa’s front.

Luisa enjoyed holding Rose like this, feeling every breathe Rose took, feeling every move of their unborn child underneath the palms of her hands as she encircled Rose’s expanded waist.

‘You should really start taking it easy,’ Luisa whispered, nosing some of Rose’s hair out of the way.

‘I never take things easy, you know that,’ Rose said, resting her head on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘I know, but in my professional opinion you really have to stop climbing on things,’ Luisa said carefully.

‘I should. I am just not used to not doing things myself.’

‘You’re growing an entire human in there by yourself,’ Luisa smiled, rubbing Rose’s stomach. ‘The least you can do is let me climb on things for you.’

‘Fine,’ Rose sighed. ‘You can do the climbing for now. I will just nap instead.’

‘Good idea,’ Luisa hummed, kissing Rose’s shoulder.

Luisa enjoyed the warm weight of a drowsy Rose in her arms, but she wasn’t sleepy. Her thoughts preoccupied with the fact that in just three months she and Rose were going to be mothers, that they would have a baby, a daughter, to take care of.

‘Rose?’ Luisa asked softly as her pregnant wife stirred in her arms a little later.

‘Yeah?’ Rose said sleepily.

‘What do you think of Noelle as a name?’

‘It’s Christmassy,’ Rose said, playing with the wedding ring on Luisa’s left ring finger. ‘You’re aware our child is going to be born in March right?’

‘Yeah, I know. But I like it.’

‘I don’t know, Lu. It’s similar to names like Carol and Holly, they have this unshakeable “born around Christmas” connotation.’

‘Well, our child was conceived around Christmas,’ Luisa teased.

‘I know your math is pretty bad, but she was conceived in June, 6 months from Christmas’

‘What I meant was that the _idea_ of her was conceived last Christmas,’ Luisa hummed.

Rose laughed. ‘That is true. Still not really sold on the name.’

‘She is going to need a name, Rose,’ Luisa sighed, they had been discussing names for the entire duration of Rose’s pregnancy and their list of possible names was still blank.

‘She could just change them when she feels like it,’ Rose teased. ‘I did.’

Luisa rolled her eyes. ‘There must be one name we agree on.’

‘I just don’t like Christmassy names for a child born in March.’

‘Fine, but I veto all flower names.’

‘Well, there go all my picks,’ Rose sighed dramatically.

‘We’ll come up with something,’ Luisa smiled, kissing the side of Rose’s head. ‘We still have three months.’

‘We do, but Christmas first.’

‘Christmas first,’ Luisa repeated, a smile breaking across her face as she realized something. ‘Holly is a plant _and_ Christmassy, you know?’

‘Don’t even try,’ Rose laughed. ‘Now get up and make me something to eat, I’m hungry.’

‘As you wish,’ Luisa smiled, getting up from underneath Rose. ‘You hungry too, Holly?’ she asked as she kissed Rose’s stomach.

‘We are not naming our child Holly!’ Rose yelled after her.

‘We’ll see,’ Luisa muttered to herself as she disappeared into the kitchen to make Rose her snack.


	20. The Chocolate Thief

Luisa pressed a sleepy kiss to Rose’s shoulder before slipping out of bed, careful not to wake her. The pregnancy had been keeping Rose awake at night so it was best to let her sleep as much as possible.

She quietly made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen to make them breakfast. Measuring out Rose’s decaf coffee, which she was sure Rose was going to complain about.

She popped some slices of bread in the toaster and poured two glasses of orange juice. As she waited for the rest of the food to get ready she opened today’s date on her advent calendar only to discover there was no longer any chocolate behind it. Narrowing her eyes, she picked up the calendar and shook it, hearing a suspicious lack of rattling as she did so.

Annoyed, she pried the remaining boxes open only to find all chocolate had been gone. Luckily for her, the culprit had just walked into the kitchen

She watched as Rose poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip, her face immediately scrunching up as she realized it was decaf.

‘One cup, can I have one cup of regular coffee?’ Rose pleaded.

‘No you can’t. Especially as you ate all my chocolate,’ Luisa said, holding up the empty calendar as evidence.

‘What? I did no such thing,’ Rose said innocently, hiding her face by taking another sip of her decaf coffee.

‘I didn’t do it and there is no one else who could have,’ Luisa said, leveling her most intimidating stare at her wife.

‘It wasn’t me,’ Rose said, poker face firmly in place.

‘You shouldn’t lie to your wife,’ Luisa husked as she backed Rose up against the kitchen counter.

‘And you should buy more chocolate if you don’t want me to eat yours.’

‘I knew it!’ Luisa said triumphantly.

‘I couldn’t help it,’ Rose exclaimed. ‘I woke up in the middle of the night craving chocolate. And this was the only chocolate left in the house,’ she said as she looked at the advent calendar.

‘So you ate it.’

‘So I ate it. I’m sorry. I was just really hungry for chocolate.’

‘I will forgive you on one condition,’ Luisa started.

‘What is it?’ Rose asked, on eyebrow raised.

‘We’re giving our child my last name.’

‘Deal,’ Rose said immediately.

‘Wait what?’ Luisa said, confused by how easily Rose had given in.

‘I always assumed we were giving her your last name.’

‘Why? You were very clear on the subject of you taking my name when we got married.’

‘That’s because I think hyphenating is weird and I thought it might be weird for you if I took your last name after everything that happened.’ _After me taking your father’s name_ , remaining unsaid.

‘Okay, it might have been a little weird. But you’re okay with giving our daughter my last name?’

‘Yes, of course. I would love having another Alver around to love.’

‘Now we just need a first name and we’ll be all set,’ Luisa sighed. They had been squabbling about that particular issue of impending motherhood for months now.

‘We’ll come up with one,’ Rose said.

‘Even if it is difficult to find a name you haven’t at some point held,’ Luisa teased.

‘It is surprisingly difficult,’ Rose nodded seriously.

‘So let’s think about that later and have breakfast first.’

‘Smart idea. Midnight chocolate isn’t enough to sustain me or our nameless child,’ Rose joked.

‘Hey, I might have forgiven you, but don’t tease.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose smiled brightly, leaning in for another kiss. ‘I will stop bringing up.’

‘And buy me a new one,’ Luisa added.

‘That was not part of our deal,’ Rose pouted.

‘It’s only fair?’

‘It is nearly Christmas; I doubt they have any left. And besides, you will have to eat two weeks’ worth of chocolate.’

‘That didn’t stop you before,’ Luisa said, pointedly staring at Rose.

‘And if you want to prevent that from happening again, you better bring some other chocolate home with you as well.’

‘You’re not coming grocery shopping with me?’

‘I am not in the mood to talk to other women about how my pregnancy is progressing.’

‘Before you were pregnant it was people hitting on you, and now it is mothers talking to you about when the baby’s coming. And I still don’t understand a word they say.’

‘Our baby will know more French than you do next year,’ Rose laughed.

‘Don’t you think that teaching her three languages is going to be confusing?’

‘You’re going to teach her Spanish?’ Rose smiled.

‘Yes, of course,’ Luisa nodded. ‘It’s important to me.’

‘Maybe I’ll save French until she’s a little older then,’ Rose smiled, sidling up to Luisa again.

‘We’re going to have a baby,’ Luisa smiled, covering Rose’s hand on the redhead’s protruding stomach.

‘We are,’ Rose smiled. ‘Next year we are going to have a daughter you can dress up in terrible Christmas clothing instead of me.’

‘I will dress her up in Christmas onesies, she’ll look adorable.’

Rose looked at her and smiled. ‘I hope she has your eyes. I love your eyes.’

‘Well, I love your eyes too. So it doesn’t matter whose eyes she ends up with. She’ll be adorable anyway.’

‘She’ll be ours,’ Rose smiled.

‘Yes, she will be. We just need to come up with a name for her and we’ll be all set.’

‘How about we come up with a few matching names?’ Rose smiled.

‘Why?’

‘I think I might want more than one child with you,’ Rose hummed, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s neck.

‘I would like to have more than one child with you too,’ Luisa smiled back, leaning in for a kiss, only to bounce off Rose’s stomach. ‘Maybe we should focus on this one first,’ she laughed as she cradled Rose’s stomach in her hands.

‘Maybe we should,’ Rose laughed. ‘One at the time.’

‘One at the time,’ Luisa smiled, successfully kissing Rose this time.


	21. Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart

Luisa couldn’t help but smile as she watched Rose softly rock their child in her arms as their car made its way up the mountain.

‘She did _not_ enjoy the plane,’ Rose remarked as their daughter fussed in her arms.

‘Her ears probably hurt from the difference in pressure, she’ll calm down soon,’ Luisa smiled, brushing a finger against her daughter’s cheek.

‘You don’t think bringing her here was a mistake do you?’ Rose asked, looking up from the child in her arms. ‘She’s so young and it was a long distance to travel. We messed with her schedule.’

Luisa smiled. Rose had softened a lot over the last couple of years, but since their daughter had been born the process had sped up and transformed her into the warmest person that Luisa had ever known.

‘She’ll be fine, she’s like her mothers. She’ll adapt. And besides, it’s tradition to spent Christmas here.’

‘It’s not like she’s going to remember this,’ Rose sighed.

‘But we will.’

Rose smiled, leaning in to press a soft kiss against Luisa’s cheek. ‘Look, we’re here.’

‘Look Mia,’ Luisa smiled as she brushed a lock of dark, curling hair away from her daughter’s face. ‘It’s your winter home.’

‘I’ll go set up the crib,’ Rose said, passing Mia to Luisa. ‘She needs to sleep if we plan on sleeping tonight.’

‘Mmmh, I don’t know,’ Luisa grinned. ‘I have some other plans for tonight as well.’

Rose raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘I better get on that crib.’

* * *

‘Rose, look!’ Luisa said as she put Mia down on the floor.

‘Ah, the infamous Christmas onesie,’ Rose laughed as she swept her daughter off of the floor, burying her face against Mia’s stomach, making the little girl laugh. ‘She looks adorable.’

‘She does, doesn’t she?’ Luisa smiled. Much to Rose’s disappointment Mia had kept her baby blue eyes, but Luisa was delighted: she had always been susceptible to blue eyes.

‘Are you hungry, little elf?’ Rose smiled, dancing around the kitchen with Mia in her arms before putting her down in her chair, putting a plate of fruit mash in front of her.

‘Maybe we should take pictures before she smears banana all over her face,’ Luisa said, pulling the plate from Mia’s reach.

‘Pictures for what?’ Rose asked, taking a bite of the other half of the banana.

‘Our family Christmas card of course,’ Luisa smiled, busying herself with Mia as she let Rose process.

‘Our what now?’ Rose asked as she tilted her head.

‘I thought we could send personalized Christmas cards this year.’

‘Just, why?’

‘Because she’s only going to be this age once and I want to immortalize it,’ Luisa pouted, flashing Rose her best puppy eyes, picking up Mia for extra leverage over Rose.

‘Does it have to be on a Christmas card?’

‘Yes,’ Luisa nodded. ‘Yes, it has to be on a Christmas card. I want to put it in a picture album and tell people that this was our first Christmas as a family, what better way to do it than on Christmas card?’ Rose smiled, walking over to Rose, Mia squashed between their bodies. ‘Please, babe?’ Luisa pouted.

‘What am I supposed to do with your mother, Mia?’ Rose asked as she tickled their daughter under her chin.

‘You’re supposed to take a picture for the Christmas card with us,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Alright, but I get to pick the picture,’ Rose smiled.

‘Of course!’ Luisa grinned. ‘Mommy said yes!’ she cooed as she danced around the kitchen with Mia.

‘So I should probably get changed then,’ Rose said as she looked down at her pajamas.

‘Yes, wear something nice,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I’ll feed her.’

‘Thank you, love you,’ Rose said, bussing Luisa’s cheek in passing.

‘I love you, too,’ Luisa called after her. ‘Time to prepare the surprise for mommy,’ she explained to her 8-month old daughter who chirped happily. Responding more to Luisa’s tone than to what she was saying.

‘Let’s just hope mommy is as happy about it as you are, Mia,’ Luisa smiled as she pulled the two red Santa hats out of a drawer. ‘Because I have the feeling she is not going to be thrilled about this,’ Luisa sighed, remembering the Christmas sweater disaster from two years ago.

Luisa was about halfway through feeding Mia her banana mush when Rose came down the stairs. Looking gorgeous in a shimmering black dress that was equally festive amd beautiful. Her hair effortlessly falling in lazy ringlets around her shoulders.

‘No,’ was all she said as she spotted the Santa hats on the table. ‘Not happening.’

‘Rose, come on! It’s for our Christmas card, we have to look at least a little Christmassy. And I thought you might prefer the hat to the sweaters.’

‘I do prefer the hat,’ Rose ground out.

‘Great!’ Luisa applauded, Mia joining in. ‘She’s almost done eating so we can take the picture afterwards. I was thinking in front of the hearth.’

‘Sounds alright,’ Rose said begrudgingly, wiping Mia’s mouth after she swallowed the last spoonful of banana.

‘You’ll love it,’ Luisa smiled, automatically putting a towel over her shoulder as she picked Mia up to burp her.

‘She does look cute,’ Rose smiled, tickling Mia’s feet as she took her from Luisa’s arms, walking into the living room, pointedly leaving the Santa hats on the table.

Luisa rolled her eyes, grabbing the hats and following her wife and daughter into the living room.

‘You forgot this,’ Luisa grinned as she slammed the hat on Rose’s head, covering her eyes. ‘Look Mia, mommy’s playing peek-a-boo,’ Luisa laughed as she took out her phone, snapping a quick picture as Rose straightened out her hat and Mia laughed excitedly in her arms.

‘We can stop right now,’ Luisa smiled. ‘This is the picture.’

‘I hate you,’ Rose frowned.

‘Fine, we’ll take some more,’ Luisa grinned, knowing she was going to use the first picture for their Christmas card regardless of what Rose’s opinion was.


	22. Rock Around the Christmas Tree

Luisa smiled as Rose dropped the last box of Christmas decorations on the floor, the twins immediately dropping whatever they were doing to see what undiscovered treasures this box held.

‘What’s in this one, mommy?’ Violet piped up.

‘Mama’s blue and purple Christmas decorations,’ Rose said, giving Luisa a pointed look, still not having forgiven her for that color scheme.

‘I like blue,’ Iris said, carefully taking a blue ornament from between the packing peanuts and bringing it over to Mia who was decorating the tree together with Luisa.

‘I like blue too,’ Luisa said as she accepted the decoration, hanging it in the tree while sticking her tongue out to Rose, who would just have to learn to live with the fact that decorating a tree with a five-year-old, two three-year-olds and Luisa was going to result in a conflicting color scheme.

‘Vi, no,’ Mia said as Violet hung the blue baubles in clusters in the tree. ‘They are prettier when you spread them out.’

‘Why don’t you go get a couple of red ones?’ Luisa whispered to her youngest daughter as she started redistributing the blue ones.

‘You got this under control right?’ Rose asked, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s waist from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder.

Luisa surveyed their three daughters rooting through the boxes of decorations, occasionally hanging something in the tree.

‘Yeah, I’ll be fine.’

‘Good, I think it is time for cocoa,’ Rose whispered. ‘I’ll be right back.’

‘Love you,’ Luisa smiled, turning her head to brush a soft kiss against Rose’s lips.

‘Yuck,’ Mia said, pulling a face.

‘Oh but I love you too,’ Luisa said, grabbing Mia around the waist and lifting her up, planting a wet, smacking kiss on her cheek.

‘Iew! Mama no!’ Mia said, squirming free.

Rose laughed and shook her head as Luisa chased the twins into a corner, picking them up to kiss them as well.

‘Now let’s go back to decorating,’ Luisa smiled after all three of her daughter were rubbing their cheeks.

‘Mama, what color next?’ Mia said as she joined Luisa’s side, surveying the tree.

‘How about more gold?’ Luisa asked, the twins immediately sprinting over to the box with gold decorations.

‘No Iris! That’s mine!’ Violet shouted as she and her sister fought over a large translucent glass ball filled with golden glitter.

‘No! I want it!’ Iris yelled back.

Luisa knew it was going to happen a second before the _crack_ sounded throughout the room.

‘Okay, nobody move,’ Luisa instructed the two stunned toddlers, the both of them now surrounded by broken glass and glitter. ‘Rose!’ Luisa yelled. ‘I need your help.’

‘Mama,’ Iris cried, looking at her hands.

‘It’s okay, honey,’ Luisa said as she picked her up before she could step in any of the glass on the ground. ‘Are you hurt?’

Iris sniffed, shaking her head. ‘No.’

‘Okay, good,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Now let’s go wash this off you and then we can have some cocoa to calm down, okay?’ Luisa said, ushering Mia into the kitchen with her as Rose carried Violet.

She put Iris down on the kitchen counter, carefully rinsing the glitter and glass splinters from her hand, checking for injuries along the way.

‘You’re fine. No harm done,’ she smiled as she ruffled a still upset Iris’ hair.

‘Lu, come over here,’ Rose said calmly, but her eyes conveyed a sense of urgency, so Luisa put Iris down on the ground to check on her other daughter, noticing an alarming shade of red between the gold glitter on the toddler’s hand.

‘It’s okay, sweetheart,’ Luisa shushed Violet, the young girl’s bottom lip trembling. ‘We’re just going to clean this up and then you’ll be fine. Can you get the…’ she said to Rose, who nodded and retrieved the first aid kit from one of the cupboards.

‘Auw!’ Violet cried as the lukewarm water aggravated the cut on her palm.

‘It’s okay. Almost done,’ Luisa said, smiling to let her daughter know she was going to be fine.

She carefully dried Violet’s hand, dabbing at the small cut on the whimpering three-year-old’s palm.

‘It’s just a little cut, you’ll be alright,’ Luisa smiled as Rose handed her the antiseptic. ‘This is just going to sting for a moment,’ she said, immediately applying the antiseptic.

‘Mama no!’ the girl cried.

‘Already done,’ Luisa soothed, sticking a pink Band-Aid over the small cut, kissing it afterwards. ‘See? All done,’ she smiled, helping Violet down onto the ground.

‘I’m sorry,’ Iris said, looking at her feet as she stood in front of her sister, tears drying on her cheeks.

‘What do you say, Vi?’ Rose encouraged.

‘I’m sorry too,’ Violet said softly, wrapping her sister in a hug.

Luisa smiled and pulled Rose’s arm around her waist.

‘Now let’s have cocoa and then we can continue decorating the Christmas tree.’

‘You have to clean up to rest of the glass and glitter first, babe,’ Rose smiled as she poured everyone hot chocolate.

‘Why do I have to do that?’ Luisa pouted.

‘Because you were the one that bought that awful Christmas ornament in the first place.’

‘Fine,’ Luisa grumbled. ‘But hot cocoa first.’

Ten minutes later Luisa was just wiping up the last of the glitter when Rose joined her side.

‘So would you say this is a successful first time decorating the tree with the children or not?’ Rose asked.

‘I don’t know, the tree looks great,’ Luisa teased as she watched the veritable rainbow that was their Christmas tree.

‘It looks great,’ Rose nodded, her expression only a little pained.

‘Merry Christmas, babe,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Rose grinned. ‘You missed some glitter,’ she said, pressing a kiss to the side of Luisa’s head as she got up.

Luisa sighed, she had the feeling she would never quite get rid of all the glitter. But it would serve as a nice reminder to the first time they decorated the tree together for many years to come.


	23. Meeting Santa Claus

‘No running!’ Luisa yelled after the overly excited twins, smiling as Rose jogged to catch up with them, linking their hands. Seeing her three flowery-named redheads all together always gave her joy.

‘You okay, sweetheart?’ Luisa asked Mia.

Mia nodded, her lips drawn together in a thin line.

‘Nervous about meeting Santa?’ Luisa continued.

Mia nodded again. ‘What if I’ve been naughty?’ she said in a small voice.

‘Well, I’m not Santa,’ Luisa started, mentally high-fiving Rose for _that_ lie, ‘but I know you have not been naughty this year. You’ve been very good. Both at school and with your sisters at home. So don’t worry about it, honey.’

‘But mommy said…’

Luisa bit her tongue, she had forgotten Rose had been angry with Mia for tormenting the twins earlier this week.

‘Well, mommy isn’t Santa Claus either’ Luisa said, smiling at Mia. ‘So just tell Santa what toys you want this year and I am sure you will get them. You’re a good girl, Mia.’

Mia nodded, a small smile breaking across her face.

‘Now go stand in line with your sisters, mommy and I need to talk about some grown-up stuff.’

‘Rose, do you have a moment?’ Luisa said coolly, Rose immediately knowing something was up.

‘We’ll be right back,’ Rose smiled as they stepped out of the line, keeping their children within eyesight but out of earshot.

‘Did you tell Mia she’s going to be on the naughty list?’ Luisa said, arms folded across her chest as she stared Rose down, an impressive feat as Rose was taller than she was.

‘No, I told her that if she continued like that she _might_ get put on the naughty list.’

Luisa rolled her eyes. ‘That’s the same thing, Rose. Five-year-old aren’t great at nuance. You can’t say anything like that to her, or the twins for that matter. They’re children, Christmas is the most important day of the year for them. You can’t threaten to take that away. Ever. You understand?’

‘I’m sorry. I was just angry, and it is by far the most effective threat I can make.’

‘I know, but you can’t use it. Now go apologize to her,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose softly.

She watched as Rose bent down to Mia’s height, talking with her in a hushed voice, smiling at her before wrapping Mia in a hug. The little girl positively beaming as she pulled away. Apart from the incidental mistakes, Rose was a great mother.

‘What did you say to her?’ Luisa whispered as she joined her family back in line.

‘That she’s a good girl and that I have some sway with Santa so I’ll be sure to tell him that to.’

‘And do you, have sway with Santa I mean?’ Luisa grinned.

‘I would like to think I have some sway with the person that get us Christmas gifts, yes,’ Rose smiled, squeezing Luisa’s hand.

‘I would say so,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Mommy, mama! Santa!’ Iris piped up as they reached the front of the line.

‘Do you remember what to say?’ Rose asked as she kneeled next to the twins.

‘I wanna say it in French!’ Iris grinned.

‘What do you call Santa in French?’ Rose asked.

‘Père Noël,’ Iris said proudly.

‘Indeed,’ Rose nodded, just as proud of the fact that all their children spoke better French than Luisa did. Because even after 8 years she still didn’t know much more than “Bonjour” and “Vous voulez coucher avec moi ce soir?” which was only acceptable on late nights when the children were already in bed.

‘Who wants to go first?’ Luisa asked.

Iris very enthusiastically raised her hand, the other two slinking back a bit.

‘Why don’t you go together with Vi?’ Rose asked Iris, ushering the twins forward and helping them into Santa’s lap.

Luisa taking a picture of the two of them with Santa as they discussed what they wanted for Christmas this year.

‘Your turn,’ Luisa smiled, pushing Mia forward.

‘I can speak English, right?’

‘Of course, Santa speaks all languages,’ Luisa encouraged her. ‘Just tell him about how well you are doing at school.’

‘Okay,’ Mia nodded nervously, hopping into Santa’s lap, starting in English but slowly fading into French.

‘We made a bunch of smart kids,’ Luisa smiled as Rose joined her side, the twins a little awed from their visit with Santa and his promise to give them everything they wanted because they had been so good this year.

‘Yes we did,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s waist.

‘Can we go get ice cream now?’ Iris whined, pulling on Rose’s sleeve.

‘Ice cream? It December! It’s snowing outside, why would you want ice cream?’ Rose asked, stunned.

‘If you get a sundae the fudge is hot,’ Mia grinned.

‘I want ice cream,’ Violet smiled.

‘I could go for a sundae,’ Luisa shrugged.

‘I live in a family of heathens,’ Rose sighed. ‘But fine, let’s get ice cream.’

* * *

After their ice cream and wandering through the mall to pick out some new clothes for Christmas, all three the girls were beyond tired. And Luisa decided it was time to go home.

‘Do you know what they asked Santa?’ Rose smiled as she turned to Luisa, their children all sleeping in the backseat.

‘I don’t speak French, so no, I don’t know what they asked Santa.’

‘If they could have a kitten for Christmas.’

‘They want a cat?’ Luisa whispered.

‘All three of them asked. I think they are old enough now, we could get them one.’

‘I don’t know, Rose…’ Luisa started.

‘Pets are good for kids, they teach them responsibility and children who grew up with pets have less allergies.’

‘You just want a cat yourself, don’t you?’

‘Maybe,’ Rose smiled. ‘I’ve always liked cats.’

‘You are so gay, you know that?’ Luisa laughed.

‘I do know that. And so are you,’ Rose grinned.

‘True, so we’re getting them a cat for Christmas?’

‘We’re getting them a cat for Christmas,’ Rose agreed.


	24. It's Christmas Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, Christmas Eve. 24 days ago I was pretty sure I was never going to make it this far, but I did. Yay! I think this pretty much had all the popular Christmas tropes, and if not I can do it all again next year. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and merry Christmas! (Happy holidays for all of you who don't celebrate Christmas and read this purely for the Roisa content)

‘What time is it?’ Luisa yawned as the bed dipped beside her.

‘4:30,’ Rose mumbled sleepily, wrapping herself around Luisa.

‘Why were you up?’ Luisa whispered.

‘To prevent the little monsters from sneaking down the stairs and open their presents at this ungodly hour.’

‘Who was it this time?’ Luisa asked, pulling Rose’s arm tighter around her.

‘All three. I am hoping they will stay in bed for an hour more.’

‘Too early.’

‘I know. They are _beyond_ excited.’

‘I’m a little excited as well,’ Luisa admitted. ‘Can’t wait for them to find out Santa actually got them a cat.’

‘Mmh, me neither. It will be nice,’ Rose hummed. ‘I love that cat already.’

‘She’s pretty cute,’ Luisa mumbled, her mind already drifting back to sleep.

* * *

‘Mommy! Mama!’ one of their daughter yelled as she jumped onto the bed, the other two following suit. ‘It’s Christmas.’

Technically she was right; it was Christmas morning, but it was also still very _early_. Christmas with children was completely different from the lazy Christmas mornings they’d had before. But both were equally fun.

‘Come here, you little monsters,’ Rose smiled as she pulled Violet and Iris into her lap, tickling them.

‘Mommy no!’ the girls laughed, trying to squirm out of Rose’s tight grip.

‘I think they’ve waited long enough, haven’t they?’ Rose asked as Luisa sat up as well, running a hand through her sleep mussed hair.

‘Yeah, let’s go see what Santa brought!’ Luisa said, the girls immediately sprinting down the stairs.

‘Come on, let’s go see what Santa brought us,’ Rose grinned.

‘Some more sleep would have been nice,’ Luisa yawned.

‘I know, but let’s go downstairs before they start ripping the paper off everything.’

‘Let’s,’ Luisa smiled, pushing up on her toes to kiss Rose.

When they got downstairs their daughters were all sitting next to the Christmas tree, impatiently waiting for them to arrive.

‘Mommy is just going to make coffee, then we can unwrap all these presents,’ Luisa said, looking at the impressive pile of gifts under the tree with awe. ‘You must have all been very good this year,’ Luisa said as she sat down.

‘Or they are all for mama and me,’ Rose said as she walked back into the living room, carrying to mugs of coffee.

Luisa couldn’t help but laugh at her daughters’ shocked expression, made worse by the fact that Rose picked her to go first.

‘For mama,’ Rose grinned.

‘Let them have their gifts first,’ Luisa laughed, putting the unwrapped gift down next to her.

‘Alright,’ Rose sighed, picking up three gifts and handing them over.

Luisa snapped a couple of pictures before Violet climbed into her lap, wanting her to read the back of the box to her.

All girls admired their gifts for a while before asking Rose for the next one.

Rose made a big show of blindly picking a present from underneath the tree.

‘Sorry, girls, this one has my name on it,’ Rose grinned, painstakingly undoing the tape, careful not to tear the wrapping paper.

‘Mommy, just rip it,’ Iris sighed.

‘Well, maybe I need your help for that,’ Rose smiled.

‘I wanna help too!’ Violet said.

The present unwrapped in 2 seconds flat with the twins’ help.

‘What did Santa get you, mommy?’ Mia asked as she looked at the non-descript box.

‘I have no idea,’ Rose said, looking up at an unfazed Luisa.

‘Open it!’ Iris said, too curious to wait any longer.

Rose lifted the lid of the box, revealing a gilded photo frame.

‘Is that you and mama?’ Iris asked, pointing at the picture.

‘Yes, when we got married,’ Rose smiled, sounding a little choked up. ‘I thought we lost this?’

‘Santa has magic we can’t comprehend,’ Luisa grinned. She had found a copy of their wedding pictures on a forgotten backup server.

‘Well, thank you Santa,’ Rose said, running her thumb underneath her eyes to wipe a tear away.

‘Can I have one now?’ Mia asked.

‘Of course,’ Rose nodded, handing over the next gift.

An hour later all dolls, stuffed animals, games, clothes, action figures and plenty of other things had been unpacked, the girls all happy with their haul, playing quietly (or not so quietly in Iris’ case) amidst the shreds of wrapping paper.

Rose met Luisa’s eyes, silently asking if it was time for _the_ gift yet.

Luisa nodded, distracting the girls while Rose sneaked off into the kitchen, returning moments later with a large box in her arms.

‘Girls, look,’ she said, putting the box down in the middle of the room. ‘I think Santa left another gift.’

‘For who is it?’ Iris asked, the girls all crowding around the box.

‘It says for all of you,’ Rose smiled. ‘Want to open it together?’

All three girls nodded excitedly.

‘On three. One, two, three!’ Rose said.

There was a moment of silence before they realized what they were seeing.

‘A cat?’ Mia said, awed.

‘It sure does look like one,’ Rose smiled, carefully picking up the tiny white ball of fluff. ‘Yes, definitely a cat,’ she confirmed after the kitten meowed softly.

‘Santa must think you have all been very good girls this year, and very responsible too if he thinks you can take care of a cat,’ Luisa added, petting the cat softly.

All three girls were still speechless, so Rose made use of that to tell them about the basics of cat care and to be very careful with her.

‘Now we just have to come up with a name for her,’ Rose said, passing the cat on to Mia.

Named immediately started flying, Rose and Luisa distancing themselves a little.

‘Best Christmas ever,’ Rose smiled warmly.

‘I agree,’ Luisa said, pulling Rose in for a kiss. She had no idea how any Christmas in the future could top this one, but she had the feeling it was going to be proven to her next year, and all the years after that.

                                                                        The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This writer's Christmas wish is for comments, so please leave some <3


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